Improvements to the Cortez Volunteer Fire Department over the last several years will result in local residents paying less for their homeowners insurance.

Cortez Fire Marshal Frank Cavaliere said that because a number of improvements to the local fire department, Cortez’s Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating has dropped from a 5 to a 4.

"This means that insurance companies should be charging less for homeowners insurance," Cavaliere said.

The fire marshal added that residents should check with their personal insurance providers to see what effect this will have on their rates.

Cavaliere said that every 10 years the ISO checks on a fire department and evaluates its performance level and ability to respond to a fire.

"The departments are rated on a scale from 1 to 10," said Cavaliere. "A 10 basically means that the area has no fire department, and a1 means that their fire protection is at its best," he said.

Cavaliere attributed the drop in Cortez’s rating to the fire department’s purchase of new firefighting equipment, a new water system, an improved tanker shuttle (used to shuttle water to remote areas) and the new substation located on Colorado Highway145.

"These improvements were all made within the mid- to late 1990’s," he said.

A spokesperson for State Farm Insurance in Cortez said that the new rates went into effect as of Aug. 1.