The association emphasized that these projects could create significant financial and operational challenges for already underfunded rural fire districts and municipal fire departments throughout Apache and Navajo counties.
Firefighters are calling for community unity, meaningful representation, and sustainable funding for emergency services for all areas in Navajo and Apache counties.
Potential concerns include changes in property assessments and valuations that could negatively affect local tax revenues, increased emergency response demands, and the expectation that neighboring fire agencies will provide emergency services to developments located outside their established legal taxing boundaries without appropriate compensation.
“Our position has nothing to do with renewable energy, political agendas, or the broader debate surrounding wind and solar development. This is strictly an issue of public safety, firefighter safety, and fiscal responsibility,” stated Louis Mirabelli, WMFFA Director of Political Affairs, during the meeting.
Arizona’s Fire District Funding Challenges
WMFFA emphasized that Arizona’s existing fire district funding structure already presents significant challenges for rural emergency service providers.
Unlike municipalities that may receive sales tax revenue, Arizona fire districts rely primarily on property tax revenues and other limited funding sources to support their operations. Fire districts do not have a general municipal sales tax revenue stream.
Collaborative efforts at the state level are underway to evaluate potential improvements to the existing fire district funding structure, which has historically placed significant financial limitations on rural fire agencies.
“Our fire districts are already operating on extremely limited budgets under a funding system that needs reform. Expecting these agencies to provide emergency protection for major commercial developments outside their taxing boundaries, without receiving additional revenue, is simply not sustainable,” Mirabelli stated.
The association noted that fire districts are responsible for maintaining adequate staffing, apparatus, equipment, and emergency response capabilities for the taxpayers within their established boundaries.
When major developments are constructed outside those boundaries, neighboring fire districts may be called upon to respond without collecting property tax revenue from those developments.
This creates an additional financial burden on districts already struggling to maintain existing services.
“We cannot continue asking the taxpayers of our rural fire districts to subsidize emergency protection for commercial developments that contribute nothing toward the cost of providing those services. That is neither fair to our taxpayers nor sustainable for our residents or our firefighters,” Mirabelli added.
WMFFA believes these concerns must be addressed before additional emergency response responsibilities are placed on local agencies.
A Call for Representation and Sustainable Funding
The White Mountain Firefighters Association is calling on the elected leadership of Apache County and Navajo County, as well as all political parties in both counties, to support the inclusion of local fire chiefs, fire district governing board representatives, and WMFFA leadership in discussions regarding proposed developments.
The association believes county officials and developers must establish appropriate agreements that provide dedicated, recurring funding to fire agencies responsible for responding to emergencies involving these projects.
These agreements should address staffing, specialized training, equipment, apparatus maintenance, and operational readiness throughout the life of the developments.
“A donated fire engine does not provide the firefighters necessary to staff it,” Mirabelli stated. “If these developments are expected to operate for twenty years, then the financial commitment to protecting them must last twenty years.”
WMFFA believes these developments present an opportunity to strengthen rural emergency services through sustainable funding partnerships rather than placing additional financial burdens on local taxpayers.
Communities Must Stand Together
The association also emphasized the importance of community unity and the need for elected fire district officials and fire chiefs to remain involved in discussions affecting their jurisdictions.
“Having a seat at the table does not constitute an endorsement of a project. It is representation,” Mirabelli told the Vernon Fire District Governing Board.
WMFFA believes residents, elected officials, fire chiefs, and firefighters must work together to ensure their communities have a unified voice when county leaders consider developments that could affect local public safety.
“We cannot expect elected officials to protect our communities if we discourage them from participating in the very discussions where decisions affecting those communities are being made,” Mirabelli stated.
The association stressed that participation in discussions should not be conflated with support for or endorsement of the proposed developments. Rather, it allows local representatives to advocate for the safety and financial interests of the communities they serve.
WMFFA Maintains Opposition Until Solutions Are Presented
Until local fire chiefs and WMFFA representatives are meaningfully included in discussions, appropriate intergovernmental agreements or other enforceable funding arrangements are presented, and sustainable emergency response funding solutions are established, the White Mountain Firefighters Association remains opposed to the proposed wind and solar developments in Apache and Navajo counties.
“The White Mountain Firefighters Association demands that our elected county officials provide local fire chiefs and the White Mountain Firefighters Association a seat at the table in all relevant discussions concerning these proposed developments,” Mirabelli stated.
“Our fire chiefs must have the opportunity to represent the operational needs of their departments. And our association must have the opportunity to represent our members, their safety, their well-being, and the resources necessary for them to perform their duties.”
WMFFA emphasized that its position is focused exclusively on protecting firefighters, preserving emergency response capabilities, and ensuring that local taxpayers are not left subsidizing emergency protection for large commercial developments outside their established fire districts.
“Firefighter safety and emergency response planning cannot be an afterthought in the development approval process,” Mirabelli concluded.
