SAGLE, Idaho — The Westside Fire District is asking Bonner County voters to approve a levy override on the May 19, 2026 ballot that would double the number of firefighters on duty each day, addressing what district leadership describes as a growing gap between emergency call volume and available personnel.
The Fire Commissioners of the Westside Fire District voted 3-0 to approve a resolution placing the levy override measure before voters. The proposal follows a similar measure that failed at the ballot box in 2025. District officials say the new proposal has been restructured based on direct community feedback and carries a lower cost to property owners than the previous attempt.
What the Levy Would Cost Property Owners
Under the proposed measure, property owners in the Westside Fire District would pay $67 per $100,000 of assessed property value. District officials note that figure represents an increase of $24 over current assessments but is still less than what was requested in the failed 2025 levy proposal.
One significant change from last year’s measure: the new proposal does not include a capital funds request for the purchase of a new fire engine. District officials removed that component after hearing concerns from residents during public outreach following the 2025 vote. The decision to focus the measure strictly on operational staffing costs reflects an effort to address voter hesitation while still meeting the district’s most pressing needs.
For a Sagle-area homeowner with a property assessed at $300,000, the levy would translate to roughly $201 per year in additional property taxes — a figure the district argues is modest in exchange for improved emergency response capacity.
Staffing Challenges Behind the Request
Westside Fire District leaders point to several converging pressures that have strained the department’s ability to respond effectively to emergencies across its coverage area in Bonner County.
Rising call volumes have placed increasing demands on a workforce that currently fields one firefighter per day on duty. District officials say the goal of the levy is to bring that number to two firefighters per day, and if approved, ultimately grow total staffing to six full-time firefighters. That level of coverage is considered a baseline standard for consistent emergency response in rural fire districts across North Idaho.
Compounding the staffing challenge is a well-documented decline in the number of available volunteers — a trend affecting fire departments throughout the Idaho Panhandle and across rural communities statewide. Volunteer rosters that once supplemented paid staff have thinned over the years as lifestyle changes, longer work commutes, and competing obligations have made sustained volunteer commitment more difficult for residents to maintain.
Equipment costs have added further pressure. District leadership cited high repair expenses associated with aging fire engines as a recurring drain on operating budgets. Paired with inflation that has outpaced the district’s budget growth in recent years, the financial picture has left WFD with limited flexibility to expand capacity without additional voter-approved revenue.
The combination of these factors — increased call frequency, volunteer attrition, aging apparatus, and inflation — led commissioners to bring another levy proposal forward despite last year’s defeat.
Community Outreach Shaped the New Proposal
District officials say the 2026 measure was developed with direct input from residents following the 2025 failure. Dropping the capital equipment request from the proposal was the most visible result of that process, but commissioners have indicated the community engagement also informed how the district communicated its staffing needs and the tax impact to property owners.
Residents in the Westside Fire District service area will have the opportunity to vote on the measure May 19, 2026. A simple majority is required for passage under Idaho law.
Fire levy questions are not unique to Bonner County. Similar funding discussions have played out in communities across Idaho as rural departments navigate the same pressures of rising costs and declining volunteerism. Idaho News Network has tracked several comparable levy efforts statewide at IdahoNews.co.
What Comes Next
Voters in the Westside Fire District will cast ballots on the levy override on May 19, 2026. If approved, the district plans to use the additional revenue to increase on-duty staffing from one to two firefighters per day and expand total full-time headcount to six personnel. If the measure fails a second consecutive time, district officials have not publicly outlined an alternative plan to address the staffing shortfall. Bonner County News will continue to follow this story as the election date approaches.