Douglas County panel signals support for full staffing increase at Consolidated Fire District No. 1

The Douglas County Board of County Commissioners on day one of budget deliberations said they broadly support a supplemental request from Consolidated Fire District No. 1 to add 10 full-time employees to the district.

Chair (S1) opened the exchange by recounting the districts presentation and saying he was "supportive of the full increase and the full ask of 10 positions," framing the request as necessary to stabilize coverage across a geographically large district with a shrinking volunteer force. Staff presented a breakdown of the proposed hires: six full-time firefighters, three captains and one chief officer as the full "option A," with a lower-cost option B that defers the chief officer and an option C that adds firefighters only.

CFD representative Sean (S5) and county budget staff described the districts calls and staffing pressures: roughly 1,000 annual incidents in 2025, of which roughly 676 were low-acuity and about 312 were high-acuity incidents, with volunteers responding on roughly 30% of high-acuity calls. Sean said the district also averages about 70 mutual-aid responses per year.

Commissioners debated whether to phase the hires or adopt the full package immediately. Several commissioners said constituents within CFD 1 expressed support for the whole proposal; others warned about the mill-levy jump and proposed intermediate phasing plans. One commissioner described a "B-and-a-half" compromise (adding firefighters and a chief officer but not all captains) while several others said captainson-shift supervision is a high priority and preferred option A.

While no formal motion or recorded vote was taken in the session transcript, the chair summarized that a majority of commissioners were leaning toward option A and asked staff to reconcile the precise mill-levy numbers and return with a finalized r and r notice. Staff agreed to update the spreadsheet and provide exact mill figures before the July 15 meeting.

What happens next: staff will finalize the fiscal impact and mill-levy calculations and return to the board with the exact rate and a formal notice; commissioners indicated they expect to revisit the item as part of the full budget vote in the coming days.

Quotes

"I am supportive of the full increase and the full ask of 10 positions," Chair (S1) said of the districts request.

Sean (S5), the district representative, described the operational need: "We had about 1,000 calls or incidents every year" and noted volunteers and mutual aid factor into operational planning.

Context and limits: The transcript records detailed deliberations and informal consensus, but it does not show a formal motion or recorded roll-call vote. Any final adoption of staffing and mill-levy changes will appear in subsequent official minutes and budget documents.