Elk Creek Fire won’t seek tax increase in May

A tax increase will not be on the May 8 ballot for the Elk Creek Fire Protection District, when voters will be asked to select two board members.
The Elk Creek board decided at its monthly meeting Jan. 12 that the time was not right to ask for more property-tax revenues from voters. The board members are hoping that a new fire chief, who could be hired by the end of January, will be able to help with a mill-levy election at a later date.
The last two mill levy elections that Elk Creek has tried have failed.
Two board seats are up for election, both held by people who were appointed to fill vacancies.
Greg Branch, who lives in Pine Junction and is a business development executive with Advanced Micro Devices, was appointed Jan. 12 to fill the seat vacated when Tim Biglen resigned in November rather than face a recall election.
Branch, who said he plans to run for election to the four-year position in May, has been involved in homeowner associations and coaching youth sports. He has lived in the area for 20 years.
The other seat up for election is held by Alec Schwartz, who was appointed to the position in March by the Jefferson County commissioners. The commissioners stepped in when the Elk Creek board was at an impasse for several months over a seat vacated by Bruce Riley, who resigned from the board when he moved out of the Elk Creek district.
The impasse was one of the reasons cited by the committee that organized the recall.
Schwartz served on the Elk Creek board from 2006 to 2010, then lost a bid for re-election in 2010.
Schwartz has not said whether he will run in May for the position.
The board decided to run an election at polling places rather than use mail-in ballots to save the district about $25,000. A mail-in ballot election costs the district about $35,000, while an election at polling places costs about $10,000.
If only two people declare candidacies for the two positions, the board might cancel the election.

Contact Deb Hurley Brobst at deb@evergreenco.com or 303-350-1041. Check www.HighTimberTimes.com for updates.