Henderson Fire Department asking taxpayers for additional $27.5 million to improve facilities

Brian Will
·2 min read
5

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The City of Henderson is looking to ask residents for $27.5 million to improve their fire department facilities on this November’s ballot.

“We are having difficulty managing is getting a ladder truck to a fire scene within the regulated benchmark of 8 minutes, we can currently only meet that goal 50% of the time,” Fire Chief Shawn White explained during a presentation to the Henderson City Council in February.

The Henderson Fire Department is rated superior in property fire protection, making it one of about only 500 fire departments across the country. But they are facing difficulties due to the city’s growing population and their current residents getting older, explained their Chief White during his presentation.

<em>Henderson Fire Department is asking taxpayers for an additional $27.5 million to improve facilities (KLAS)</em>
Henderson Fire Department is asking taxpayers for an additional $27.5 million to improve facilities (KLAS)

“If we maintain our current projection and call volume, we will add 9 to 10,000 calls in Henderson over the next five years. Our existing resources do not have the capacity to absorb these calls,” White said. “Five of our 11 front-line rescue units surpassed work line capacity last year.”

To address these issues, they would like to add two ladder trucks and renovate their older fire stations along with updates to their aging fleet using taxpayer dollars from this ballot question.

The fire department has been working to address the growth and has built four new fire stations in the last few years with a new one opening soon on the west side of Henderson. They also continue to face staffing shortages.

“230,000 registered voters here in Henderson are going to be asked to pass judgment on that question. The question involves the passage of a property tax that would increase by $.06 per $100 evaluation,” Henderson City Clerk Louie Valdez explained.

The $0.06 increase would raise property taxes for Henderson residents from $0.77 to $0.83, while the national average is around $0.99 cents.

The Henderson City Council held a meeting Tuesday, April 16 to appoint both for and against committees on this ballot question. The question will then be posed to the City Council before going to voters in the fall.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.