Voters dissolve Tipanuk Fire District

The Tipanuk Fire District is no more.

Voters Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to dissolve the district, by a 62-11 margin, a turnout elections officials at the county courthouse described as a "huge" portion of the voters eligible to cast ballots in the election.

The district had faced a challenge to its existence after some taxpayers had raised questions about legal aspects of how the district had been formed in the first place. A petition to dissolve the district was filed with the county and Tuesday night voters decided to end the district's operations.

The district will officially cease to exist on Friday, at 9:30 a.m., when the county commissioners conduct an official canvass of the ballots and enter the results into their minutes.

The property of the district, one fire truck and some ancillary equipment, will become the property of the county. After all debts are paid, any money remaining in the fund of the district will be turned over to the Mountain Home Highway District to be "expended in the maintenance and repair of the highways," according to state law.

Some of those who had fought to see the district dissolved had objected to paying the taxes for the district. In fact, the method the district had used to set its levy also had been one of the items of dispute.

Because taxes are actually collected a year after they are levied, taxpayers in the district will continue to pay taxes this year, and next year for the taxes that had been levied this year.