It was a historic day for Osage Beach Fire District residents. After the August 2nd mid term election voters approved their proposal to supplement funding with a 1/2 cent sales tax by total combined votes of:

Yes-1,854

No-822

This is the first time a fire district in the Lake Area has added a sales tax to their funding. Primarily, fire districts in the area are funded through property taxes paid by property owners at the approved rate within their jurisdictions. With Osage Beaches retail hub for tourism and other amenities a sales tax that benefits both the fire district and residents was found to be the best option to add the needed funding.

How does this work?

A 1/2 cent sales tax will begin being collected January 1, 2023 on purchases made within the fire district. Residents can expect to see a reduction in their OB Fire Line of the property taxes in 2024. It is expected to generate enough revenue to cut the fire district line by 50% for residents. Half of the generated sales tax goes to the fire district and the other half will be returned to the taxpayers in the form of property tax relief on a yearly basis.

What does this mean?

• The funding received by this will go towards increasing wages for the firefighters to help recruit and retain for the years to come.

• It will also be used to replace aging apparatus and establishing a capital replacement so that equipment will be replaced when it becomes dated without having to ask for another increase.

• Plans are to add 2 medical response units that will handle the 65% majority of total call volume so that the larger more expensive apparatus will remain in service. This reduces wear and tear and is much more frugal with taxpayer dollars.

• Add additional personnel to supplement the medical response units bringing and increasing the capability of handling the rising number of emergencies. Also adds to the available personnel on larger incidents such as fires. We would like to thank the citizens for making their voices heard in overwhelming fashion and entrusting in us. Planning to start implementing these will begin immediately. We would also like to thank all of the private citizens and businesses who showed their support leading up to the election.

We thank you all again.

“Our Family, Protecting Your Family, Because We Care”