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Committee advances bill to create annual aid for fire and ambulance special districts
Summary
House File 526 would create annual state aid for fire and ambulance special districts. Cloquet Area Fire District and Fond du Lac Band officials described operational efficiencies, ISO improvements and funding gaps; members praised the model while some urged a broader statewide solution. The committee laid the bill over for omnibus consideration.
The House Tax Committee heard House File 526 on Oct. 27, 2025, a bill establishing annual fire and ambulance special district aid aimed at supporting multi-jurisdictional districts that provide consolidated fire and emergency medical services.
Representative Rick Dotseth, the bill author, said fire and ambulance districts can improve efficiency and service. Cloquet Area Fire District Chief Jesse Bews described the district’s experience: formation in 2009 consolidated four departments, eliminated five large apparatus and improved the district’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating to a 3 from higher ratings (as high as 9 in some member communities). Bews said the district covers roughly 275 square miles for ambulance service and about 70 square miles for fire/rescue response and that forming a district creates immediate operational and capital needs while removing legacy reserve funds held by prior municipal entities.
Bruce Blackner Jr., emergency management director for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, said Fond du Lac contracts with Cloquet for structural response and urged the committee to support aid that sustains regional coverage.
Chief Bews and Representative Dotseth told members special districts were not eligible for some recent public-safety funding allocations and that the bill would create a pathway for annual aid to cover operating and capital needs that otherwise are difficult for newly formed districts to finance.
Members praised the district model but several — including Chair Gomez — urged development of more comprehensive, statewide approaches rather than piecemeal fixes. The committee laid the bill over for possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill by voice vote.
