Valley Center, other towns face uncertainty after ultimatim over fire protection

People in Valley Center and four other Sedgwick County towns face unknowns about how their homes will be protected from fires in the future. And potential changes could affect their property tax rates or their homeowners’ insurance rates.

The uncertainty comes after Sedgwick County decided it would no longer provide fire protection under terms of an agreement that lets the towns get fire service for free when they do not pay to be members of the county’s Fire District 1.

Valley Center has some paid firefighters. Clearwater, Cheney, Colwich and Mount Hope have all-volunteer first responders. Sedgwick County offers assistance in varying degrees to all five towns for fire services. The average number of county fire responses to these towns was not immediately available.

The problem goes beyond who is writing checks and who isn’t, the county says. It is also about firefighter safety, and the growing inability of local fire departments to get enough people to an emergency situation in a timely manner to make sure that citizens and Sedgwick County firefighters are safe.

These underlying issues have been discussed at least since District 4 County Commissioner Ryan Baty came into office nearly four years ago.

But the tipping point didn’t come until earlier this month, when county commissioners voted to terminate the existing Fire District 1 mutual and automatic aid agreements with the five cities in the next 90 days.

Their options, as outlined by the county, would be to become taxpaying members of the fire district, adhere to new agreements that would require them to provide their own staffing and quality control measures to meet minimum safety standards, or simply allow the current agreements to expire.

Baty, whose district includes Valley Center, Maize and Park City, was quick to say that he will not let the people he represents go without what he called a proper fire response from Sedgwick County.

“All we’re saying is: We need to address this concern,” Baty said. “We can no longer put firefighters in a dangerous situation. … We’ve had a number of incidents where Sedgwick County has had to respond in an aid situation, but the volunteer fire department has not shown up with enough personnel.”

Baty said the county’s benchmark is it needs 10 firefighters on the scene of a response within 10 minutes.

Could Valley Center go without county fire help?

At the Valley Center City Council’s May 19 meeting, more than one council member said he wanted to see if the city could increase its first responder staffing levels and do without county assistance.

The reason, from Valley Center’s perspective, is all about cost. Baty said that’s what he’s hearing from the other cities, too.

Valley Center currently has what it considers a full-time paid fire department, with six full-time employees supplemented by part-time firefighters who are called upon as needed.

City Council member Matt Stamm said he would prefer adding staff instead of paying the county 16.75 mills of tax revenue to join District 1. That increase would cost the owner of a $200,000 home an extra $385.25 a year in property taxes. All members of the fire district pay the same amount in mills.

Andale, Bel Aire, Bentley, Garden Plain, Goddard, Haysville, Kechi, Maize, Park City and Viola are all members of the fire district, according to Sedgwick County’s website.

Stamm said he would be willing to consider adding three or four full-time employees to make Valley Center’s fire department a 24/7 operation and do without county fire support.

City Council President Ben Anderson agreed, and said he would like to see what it would cost to go that route.

Weighing cost of Sedgwick County fire support, other options

County Commissioner Baty said the Fire District mill levy would go down if more of these cities joined. And, in the case of Valley Center, it would not have to levy taxes for its own fire service anymore. The city of Valley Center’s total mill levy rate for 2026 is 53.656, according to documents filed with the state of Kansas. How much of that goes for fire protection services was not immediately known.

If Valley Center and Fire District 1 simply enter into a new mutual aid agreement, Baty said the city would have to scale up, so its mill levy for fire services would go higher.

Another cost that could go higher if any of these cities stop using District 1 fire services is homeowners insurance.

Lloyd Newman, Valley Center’s public safety director and police chief, said in an email to The Eagle on May 20 that homeowners’ insurance rates in the city proper should not be affected even if the county drops its fire support because the city’s fire station is less than five miles from every home. The Valley Center fire station also serves three townships, and the distance between those homes and the fire station was not immediately known.

Valley Center did not make a decision on May 19 about what role, if any, it would want Fire District 1 to play in supporting its first responders going forward. But Mayor Jet Truman said he has told Baty that Valley Center will be keeping its fire department.

Truman said he didn’t make any commitments beyond that because the City Council needs to know the financial impact of its various options.

City Administrator Cyndra Kastens told the council that staff would generate numbers so it could weigh its options. No follow-up meetings had been set as of May 20, Newman said via email.

While Valley Center, Clearwater, Cheney, Colwich and Mount Hope weigh their options, Baty knows he is walking a fine line when it comes to serving various constituencies.

“Whatever Valley Center decides to do, I will support,” he said.

And if the final resolution for any of the cities takes the shape of a new mutual aid agreement instead of Fire District 1 membership, Baty said he will do what it takes to ensure that the agreement is one that works best for the county and the cities involved.