Fire Board questioned on authority to levy taxes for medical call-outs

Derek Kilbourn

Sounder News

The Board of the Gabriola Fire Protection Improvement District has been asked if it is considering whether it has the authority to collect taxes to pay for the medical call-outs responded to by the Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department.

The issue came up during the ‘questions from the public’ portion of July meeting of the Fire Board.

Gabriolan Wayne Mercier asked the Board if the Trustees had given any thought as to whether they have the authority to levy taxes to pay for firefighters responding to medical calls.

He pointed to the Letters Patent of the Fire District, which empower the Board to collect taxes.

According to the Letters Patent, “the objects of the Improvement District shall be the provision of fire protection and the acquisition, maintenance and operation of works, buildings and equipment for that purpose and all matters incidental thereto.”

Mercier pointed out that medical calls make up the majority of the call-outs for the GVFD.

In 2022 and 2023, medical callouts working with BC EHS made up over half of the yearly total calls for the GVFD. Over the course of 2024, medical calls have continued to make up the majority of the GVFD call-outs.

This, Mercier says, makes responding to medical calls more than something ‘incidental’ to the primary purpose of providing fire protection. He asked if the Board has given any, “consideration or commissioned reports to the degree with which you are limited in ability to levy taxes to pay for services not covered in Letters Patent?”

Fire Board Chair Paul Giffin asked, “are you asking the board to tell the GVFD not to respond to medical calls?”

Mercier said, “no. I’m asking if the Board in levying taxes, has given thought to limitations in the expansion of that scope?”

Giffin said BC Emergency Health Services (BC EHS) had only just expanded the Gabriola station to a full-time station this past April, and as such, any evaluation or review of service would be unfair at this point.

“Once we’ve had several months where they have been full time, we can take a look at it. The other thing is the GVFD is not ambulance chasers, they go when they are dispatched by BC EHS.”

Mercier asked, “is levying taxes for that reason within your authority? Have you solicited information about your authority to levy taxes for anything other than fire services?

“You should be sure you have the authority to levy taxes to make that happen. So far you haven’t levied taxes.”

Fire Chief Will Sprogis said, “the GVFD has been attending medical calls since the early 90s. They’ve been doing this close to 30 years. You come and say GVFD should not go to medical calls?”

Mercier said, “I’m saying they absolutely should. And they should be trained to do that. I’m saying that comes from taxes. And if the Board doesn’t have that authority to raise those taxes, where does the money come? What I’m asking is has the Board considered any of these questions?”

Giffin said the Board would take those questions, and called the discussion to a close.