Tipanuk Fire District gets the ax from its taxpayers

The Tipanuk Fire District is no more.

Voters last week 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, and other actions. A petition to dissolve the district was filed with the county and last Tuesday night voters decided to end the district's operations.

An order to officially dissolve the district was entered into the minutes of the county commissioners after the official canvass of ballots Friday.

But that doesn't mean the district will go away immediately.

Under state law it will continue to exist until midnight on Dec. 31 of this year, at which time the state tax commission will officially decertify it as a taxing district.

That will give the district time to wrap up its operations and dispose of any equipment it has.

Any property still owned by the district when it is decertified by the state will become the property of the county. Currently, the district has one fire truck and some ancillary equipment.

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. It had actually submitted two different levies to the county for this tax year, one of 0 mills and one of 24 mills, a fact that was one of the points of contention among opponents of the district.

Because taxes are actually collected a year after they are levied, taxpayers in the district who still have second-half taxes to pay will still have to pay the district's taxes this June.

Because state law provides that the district will remain in existence until it is decertified as a taxing district at the end of the calendar year, the district must still submit a budget for the coming fiscal year, which begins in October.

"We hope they will submit a 0 (mill) levy," said county elections clerk Vivian Garcia, but legally they could submit a budget that would levy up to 24 mills. Any levy the district might request would be part of the taxes that would be paid in December (or June 2010 if only half of the taxes are paid in December).

Efforts to reach a spokesperson for the district for comment were not successful.