Firefighters hopeful Fargo residents will pass first responders sales tax in November (2024)

FARGO — Fargo firefighters are sounding the alarm about unmet budget needs for public safety and, as a result, asking Fargo voters to approve a new sales tax this November to fund police and fire.

The Fargo Fire Department and Fargo Police Department have identified several unmet needs, including inadequate pay for staff, aging facilities and outdated equipment.

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

“We’re still falling further and further behind, and the longer you wait to address it, the more it costs,” said Ron Guggisberg, a firefighter and representative from the firefighter’s union, Fargo Firefighters Local 642.

Guggisberg, a former representative in the North Dakota House of Representatives, is leading the charge on this sales tax on behalf of his union.

Earlier this month, commissioners narrowly approved a second sales tax measure for the November ballot. It needs to gather at least 60% support from the voters.

Mayor Tim Mahoney stood opposed to the plan earlier in August, stating that the city of Fargo has funded first responders well over the past few years and that this sales tax request “puts another burden on the public that’s already taxed to its limits.”

“This community stands behind fire and police,” Mahoney said Aug. 19. “But I’m not sure this is the right mechanism (for more funding).”

Mahoney was unable to be reached for comment for this story.

Fargo residents will vote yea or nay on a 20-year, quarter-cent sales tax to fund operations, equipment and new buildings for the Fargo Fire Department and Fargo Police Department during the election in November.

Mahoney wasn’t alone in his opposition to the idea.

“This is just unbelievable how selfish this is,” Commissioner Dave Piepkorn said on Aug. 19. “It’s ‘Team Fargo,’ right? Except that the team is the A squad, which is police and fire. And everyone else? Not so much. That is the message that I’m getting.”

This sales tax measure is a “mistake,” he said.

“You’re taking advantage of what generations of firefighters built,” Piepkorn said. “The Fargo public loves police and fire. They love you. But this will change their perspective of you … I think you’re making a huge mistake.”

Guggisberg was shocked by Piepkorn’s comments.

“I’ve never heard anybody call firefighters, in general, selfish.” he said. “So that really took me aback.”

They aren’t doing this just for the first responders, Guggisberg said, but for the safety and well-being of the city for years to come.

“If we can get this passed, we feel like generations of firefighters and police officers… are going to be grateful to the citizens of Fargo for passing this,” he said.

Mahoney also expressed concern that the first responders’ unions were stepping out of their lane.

“Where does the money go and who gets to spend it?” Mahoney said Aug. 19 of the anticipated $8 million in additional sales tax revenue that will be raised annually for first responders.

City funds should be raised and spent at the discretion of the city commission, he said.

Guggisberg agreed, adding that the money raised through this sales tax for police and fire will still be spent at the judgment of the commission.

The unions have suggestions about what the firefighters and police needs are, Guggisberg said, but if the commission wishes, they can spend it on other first responder needs, pool it for large projects or use it to offset costs and lower property taxes.

In addition, Mahoney was concerned that the first responder sales tax would push the taxpaying public beyond what they are comfortable with for a local sales tax rate and jeopardize the long-planned Fargodome sales tax.

There is also a 3% lodging tax on the November ballot that would fund the creation of a conference center.

Guggisberg sees no reason the two sales taxes should conflict.

“I don’t see these as two competing things,” Guggisberg said. “I think they both have valid reasoning for them.”

If both sales taxes passed, Fargo would have a total sales tax of 8% compared to Moorhead’s 7.875% and West Fargo’s 8%.

The demand on first responder services has risen far beyond what the general population of Fargo has, Guggisberg said.

“We’re getting a lot more calls than we used to,” Guggisberg said, “And a lot of that has to do with these big social problems that everybody is trying to deal with, whether it's mental health, addiction, homelessness. It would be really nice to find solutions to those problems but until then it's up to first responders … to deal with those issues.”

Further, the commission hasn’t addressed the firefighters' concern about low compensation leading to low retention, he said.

It goes beyond just retention, he said, which has been trending downward. There’s several large scale projects that need to be addressed to allow the fire department to provide the quality of services residents have come to expect, he said.

Neighboring West Fargo voters narrowly passed a public safety specific sales tax in 2022.

Going forward, the two unions will be doing outreach to voters to explain their plan and answer all the questions that the community has before Election Day.

This public information campaign is being funded solely by donations from individual firefighters and police that the union will distribute, Guggisberg said.

Fargodome Authority members unanimously approved spending $99,500 on a factual public information campaign back in July in anticipation of the Fargodome sales tax on the November ballot.