OCEAN PARK — With the due date for Pacific County property taxes pushed to June 1, the Pacific County Fire District No. 1 Board of Commissioners are preparing for a possible drop in revenue in coming months.

Commissioner Tom Downer requested a board meeting on April 2 to discuss how the new deadline would affect the fire department’s revenue for 2020. April property taxes make up about 30% of the district’s expected revenue for 2020.

In addition to a delay in property taxes, a drop in call and transportation volume was attributed to more people staying home and calling the hospital instead of an ambulance, said Jacob Brundage, fire chief for the district.

The district had 171 calls for service in March, with 71 transports to a hospital, Brundage said. That is compared to 231 calls and 139 transports in March 2019.

“Good news is that people are staying home … we aren’t getting unnecessarily exposed,” Brundage said. “Bad news is, transports are down, which means a decrease in revenue.”

One of the district’s ambulances was converted to transport covid-19 patients if need be, Brundage said.

To help offset a potential revenue reduction, Brundage said the district would hold off a reimbursement plan for part-time workers, not fill a training captain position and hold off on any capital projects.

While the commissioners said there might be a delay in revenue in April, the real concern is the second half of the year, when more people might have exhausted their finances due to covid-19.

“I’m seeing a lot of signs as well that the recovery is going to be both painful and slow,” Downer said.

To be prepared for that possibility, the three commissioners — Tom Downer, Fred Hill and Dennis Long — voted to have District Secretary Jamie Meling investigate borrowing against any future tax revenue. If the second half of the year is what gets worse, the line of credit will be ready, Meling said.

“We hope we don’t need to use it,” Meling said.

The district’s rainy day funds amount to about $1.7 million.