ALBANY - Voters in part of Livingston Parish approved a tax renewal to fund the District 1 Fire Department.

District 1 covers around 10,000 people in the town of Albany and surrounding area. The tax has been on the books for nearly 20 years.

Officials were worried leading up to Saturday's election because of talk of taxes related to the state budget crisis.

"That three letter word tax is just a terrible word right now you know with the budget cuts," District 1 Chief Joe Foster said in an interview earlier in the week.

The tax brings in $170,000 each year and supports 80 percent of the district's budget. The money goes toward upgrading equipment, servicing fire hydrants and paying firefighters. The tax also erected a new fire station in Albany in January 2015.

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