The drumbeat of hard economic times continued to roll as Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety announced Deputy Chief Larry Rude had been laid off.

The Fire District No. 43 Board of Commissioners made the decision to lay off Rude effective June 30. The commissioners recently learned the expected drop in assessed values in one of the fire districts taxing areas will be a negative 7 percent, which prompted the members to make the decision to lay off Rude.

According to interim Fire Chief Brad Doerflinger, the fire district is collecting the maximum levy amount of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value allowed by law, which means there is no room to bring in more money through property taxes.

Doerflinger said every 1 percent drop in assessed values adds up to about $70,000, and a seven percent drop means about $490,000 out of the budget.

Doerflinger said he expects the board will wait until the “preliminary tax worksheet” comes out in September to decide if further cuts are necessary.

According to Doerflinger, when the King County Assessor Lloyd Hara met with the fire district officials he said the fall in assessed values could continue for three to five years.

Doerflinger said the commissioners used “reverse seniority” or most recently hired to decide on the layoff. Rude was hired about 2 1/2 years ago.

The fire chief wrote in a release, “The Fire District began using reserve funds in 2008 to balance the budget and started cutting programs in 2009. In 2010 there was a 14.4 percent AV drop, which required additional program reductions. Concessions from staff and by maintaining two vacant positions (fire chief and facilities manager) allowed us to balance the budget for 2010.”