Douglas County fire district seeks tax hike to add staffing
A 4.10-mill hike in Consolidated Fire District #1 would add more than $140 a year to a $300,000 home and fund six more firefighters.
A 4.10-mill increase in Consolidated Fire District #1 would add more than $140 a year to a home assessed at $300,000, and Douglas County commissioners were asked to weigh the request.
The district’s proposed 2027 operating budget totals about $2.46 million, a 2% decrease from its adopted 2026 budget, and it keeps the current 6.0 mill levy in place. That no-growth option would preserve the service level CFD#1 has now, but it would not pay for the staffing expansion needed to keep pace with demand.
Chief John Mathis told commissioners the district wanted county leaders to consider as much as $1.29 million in added funding for more staff. The largest of the three funding options would raise the levy by 4.10 mills, but because CFD#1 is a separate taxing district, the increase would fall only on properties inside the fire district, not on all Douglas County property owners.
CFD#1 covers roughly 228 square miles, including Clinton Lake, Lone Star Lake, and stretches of I-70, K-10, US-40 and US-59. It serves rural portions of central and northern Douglas County and the City of Lecompton from 10 fire stations with 38 emergency response apparatus. In January, the district said it responded to 990 incidents in 2025, with 48% classified as EMS calls and 52% as fire and other services.
Mathis said the district’s staffing goal remained six additional full-time firefighters so each station could have two firefighters on duty. The district had recently hired two full-time firefighters for Lecompton and a full-time assistant chief. County materials put volunteer contributions at more than 2,000 hours a year.
CFD#1 was created by Douglas County Resolution 20-25 in June 2020 and began official operations on Jan. 1, 2021, after consolidation of the former departments in Wakarusa, Eudora, Kanwaka, Lecompton and Clinton townships. In 2025, the district sought a 1/2-mill increase for its 2026 budget to add staff and build reserves for major equipment replacement, including $150,000 for a fire truck and other large equipment reserve.
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