Timber Mesa Fire and Medical District Residential Fire Sprinkler Tax Rebate Program

The Timber Mesa Fire and Medical District is encouraging homeowners to consider sprinklers in their home. “Residential sprinkler systems are the most effective safety feature that can be installed in the home to protect you and your family against the effects of fire” said Fire Chief Bryan Savage in his presentation to the Fire District Governing Board on Monday, May 23rd, 2022.

Timber Mesa Fire and Medical District provides emergency services to approximately 25,515 properties.  Of those parcels, 16,091 are classified as residential, or 63% of the total parcels located in the District.  An additional 7,596 are currently vacant property which means they will be developed in the future.  Fully 95% of the District either is, or could be developed as, residential properties.  It is estimated that 50% of the district does not have adequate water supply for firefighting purposes and much of the same area could be considered as having limited access or delayed response times.

History, Myths, and Statistics of fire sprinklers

Residential fire sprinkler systems are proven to be the most effective life safety feature to protect people from the effects of fire in the home.  They have been around for decades now and in some places, required for just as long.  Unfortunately, there are many myths out there concerning residential sprinklers including:

Myth: A home with smoke alarms doesn’t need fire sprinklers.

Fact: Smoke alarms are essential in every home. But they can only detect a fire. Fire sprinklers detect the fire and automatically control it, saving lives and property.

Myth: Residential fire sprinkler systems are too costly, and the benefits do not outweigh the cost(s). 

Fact: The truth is that residential sprinkler systems are very affordable, even in today’s economy. For the average home in the Fire District the cost of installation is estimated at $7,500; that is less than it costs to install flooring in the same home. Additionally, residential sprinklers reduce insurance costs for the life of the home by 18-20%.

Myth: Sprinklers will leak.

Fact: Fire sprinkler mishaps are generally no more likely or severe than home plumbing system problems.

Myth: If one goes off, they all go off.

Fact: Fire sprinklers activate independently; only the sprinkler closest to the fire will activate.

Myth: The fire department will be able to put out the fire and save the contents of a home.

Fact: In the nine to 12 minutes a fire department needs to respond, an uncontrolled fire will grow and spread through the home, causing tremendous smoke and fire damage.

Myth: Residential fire sprinkler systems cause more damage than the fire itself.

Looking at property damage specifically due to a fire in the home, the average published cost of the damage in a home protected by a properly installed and functioning system was $2,166 compared to $45,019 in a home without a sprinkler system A study published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) concluded 72.7% of total fire loss, or $87B over a five-year period, was the result of fires in residential properties

Myth: People are safe in their homes; most fires occur in commercial buildings.

The NFPA published the results of a study spanning from 2010 through 2014. Residential fires accounted for approximately 79 percent of all the reported fires during that time span. Over the five-year period, there were 2,716 fatalities reported with 97%, or 2,640, happening in residential fires. Over 14,000 injuries were reported with 90.2%, or 13,217, of those injuries occurring in residential fires. 

The Program

The program will offer a fire district property tax rebate to the property owner who elects to install an approved residential sprinkler system, either new construction or a retrofit of an existing home. To do this, the property owner would need to apply for reimbursement annually for five years. Each year property owner would receive up to a 100% return on their fire district property taxes paid for that year, as well as a waiver of the permit and inspection fees for the installation of sprinklers which the District currently charges. The total amount of the rebate over the five-year period could not exceed the total cost of the sprinkler installation as demonstrated through invoices paid by the homeowner or contractor to the fire sprinkler vendor.

If the average home built is 3,000 square feet, and the cost of a sprinkler system is $2.50 a square foot, then the cost of the fire sprinkler system would be approximately $7,500.  If that same home was charged $600.00 per year in fire district property taxes, over the course of five years the property owner would be eligible to receive $3,000 in reimbursements from the District.  This does not include additional potential savings from insurance costs which are generally applied to sprinklered homes.

Currently, there are very few homes (estimated at 25 – 30) in the Fire District that are equipped with residential sprinkler systems. This program seeks to make residential sprinklers more attractive as a life safety option in homes, especially in circumstances where adequate fire flow is not available.