In 2022, Fire and EMS Departments in the area began to rally their communities in support of a Fire and EMS tax that would allow them to better protect their citizens and their homes. For several years, the departments strategized on how they could increase their revenue to support their agencies and after much deliberation, they came up with the idea of a 1/3 tax. This same tax had originally been denied four years prior because of issues with placing both Fire and EMS on the same ballot, but once that was resolved the departments began again pushing this support.Leading up to the vote, there was some opposition to the proposed sales tax increase. The Ponca City Fire Department, publicly backed by Mayor Homer Nicholson and Commissioner Robert Bodick, were against the idea of the tax because it would be split equally between all the departments. It was believed that due to a larger population, and the higher percentage of spending within Ponca City, that a larger portion of the tax revenue should go to Ponca City departments.Despite the opposition to the original resolution, on November 8, 2022, the Fire and EMS 1/3 Tax was on the ballot and was passed by the citizens of Kay County. Since the passing of this tax, the rural departments have seen nothing but positive impacts on their departments and community protection.Before the tax, departments were working with outdated and potentially dangerous equipment that didn’t allow them to protect their communities as adequately as possible. Due to outdated vehicles, gear, breathing apparatuses, etc, they were unable to live up to what they believed was their full potential. Since the tax however, they have been able to begin the process of progressing to where they would ultimately like to be as departments.When speaking with Fire Chief Robert Fehring, he could not have better things to say about the tax. Since they began receiving the revenue for the tax, the Tonkawa Fire and EMS Departments have been able to update and add to their departments in ways that were never possible before.The first thing that was purchased in the Tonkawa departments was bunker gear for all the volunteer firefighters in the department, then new programs to work with fire reporting were purchased, a new motor for a heavy brush rig was replaced, upgrades to communications were done, now allowing them 18 portable and 6 mobile digital ...
