GOLDEN GATE CANYON — The Golden Gate Canyon Fire Protection District Board approved language for a mill levy increase during a special meeting on August 20, 2026, at the Grange. Board members present for the meeting were Deb Curlee, president; Marith Reheis, vice president; Karla Grahn, secretary; Mike Sever, treasurer; and Dave Primmer.

President Deb Curlee and Board Member Dave Primmer get ready for the special meeting.

Photo by Anne Scarffe

Curlee added an item to the agenda, an Intergovernmental Agreement for the election coordinator. Chief Kyle Benson said it is standard for elections with Jefferson County. The Board approved the IGA.

The Board then reviewed and discussed language for a 4.5 mill levy increase approved at the July 23 meeting. Reheis read the proposed language.

“District legal counsel, the District Election Official, and District staff have prepared the necessary ballot language required under Colorado law for consideration and approval by the Board of Directors:

“Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Fire Protection District of Jefferson County, Colorado, that the following ballot question be approved to include on the November 3, 2026, coordinated election:

The full board attended the Golden Gate Fire Protection District August 20 meeting.

Photo by Anne Scarffe

“Without increasing the district’s taxes for general operating purposes, shall Golden Gate Fire Protection District taxes be increased in the first fiscal year by $140,000 in 2027, and by such amounts annually thereafter as may be raised by an additional property tax levy of 4.5 mills, with all revenues therefrom deposited into a dedicated capital ‘fleet revitalization fund’ to be used exclusively and for the sole purposes of paying for the acquisition, replacement, revitalization, and rehabilitation of fire apparatus and fleet vehicles, including permanently installed and necessary equipment for such apparatus and vehicles?”

During Public Comment, Dave Kapusga, former Fire Marshal, asked how much the District already had in the budget. Sever said they have enough in the budget to keep the vehicle running. They have no line item for new equipment but have allocated funds to capital expenses. There is not a lot of money left, Sever noted.

Benson said, “We’ve had a lot of delayed maintenance and fire station updates. We are investing in people. We have about $450,000, so this is the reason this is important to help jumpstart the apparatus.

“It costs $81,500 to replace a truck and they need to replace the entire fleet. We have to find another source of revenue. We have the regular operational levy to keep the lights on. The capital mill levy will be treated as a separate item,” Benson said.

“We need to keep our reserves for emergencies,” he added. “We don’t want to delete it all the way down. People will vote on this.”

Benson said they have a plan in place. “Right now,” he said, “funding through grants is very difficult. We will have $140,000 from the mill levy that will be used for nothing else but equipment. We’re not going to stop applying for grants.

“There is never a good time to ask for money. No one has come and tried to save it. That’s too much to ask,” he said.

Chris Enright, assistant chief, said that they have worked very hard to make it easy to use the Fire Department and to provide a process as a recommended strategy. They are, he said, 10 years behind. There are vehicles out there that are older than he is.

Benson said that the District covers 640 square miles, but this is a problem for all districts, and it’s being investigated by the Senate. He has met with Senator Hickenlooper, and they are working on this at the federal level.

Kapusga said that it might be tough for people to handle. They want to have a long-term solution.

Reheis said the Fire Department has been having open houses and sending out information. “We don’t know how else to get the message out,” she stated.

Other members of the public and several firefighters spoke in favor of the mill levy increase. Firefighters said they would like to have safe equipment.

During Board discussion, Primmer said he thought the ballot language was misleading, but the rest of the Board disagreed and voted to approve the language.

The next regular Board meeting will be on August 27, 2026, at 7 p.m. at The Grange, 25201 Golden Gate Canyon Road.