MILL CREEK — The city is weighing its options for fire protection beyond 2016.

The City Council will have to make a decision before the contract with Snohomish County Fire District 7 ends next year.

Fire District 7, based in Clearview, has talked about Mill Creek becoming a permanent part of the district, Fire Chief Gary Meek said. That’s similar to what happened in Snohomish in 2003 and Monroe in 2006. Those fire districts tax, elect and provide service inside city limits, without a contract.

The way it works now, Mill Creek and the fire district have a joint board that governs fire and emergency medical services in city limits. If Mill Creek became part of the fire district, people who live in city limits would be able to run for election on the fire board and vote for fire commissioners, Meek said.

“It just makes it all one taxing area,” he said.

The city and the fire district have had a contract since Mill Creek incorporated in 1983, Meek said. Annexation has been talked about on and off for a long time and would have to be approved by voters.

The current contract runs through December 2016. The fire district billed the city $3.14 million in 2014, district spokeswoman Autumn Waite said. The 2015 bill is expected to be $3.5 million.

The city also could opt to change the contract or create a regional fire authority, Meek said.

A regional fire authority forms a new government body to levy taxes for firefighting and emergency medical services. Snohomish County has one in Stanwood, and talks are under way about forming them in Marysville and Bothell, too.

Acting City Manager Landy Manuel said he supports renewing Mill Creek’s contract with the fire district.

“If we can work out something that’s reasonable,” he said. “The main thing is to maintain the service.”

Manuel, who’s also the city finance director, would like to see Mill Creek sign a contract similar to the current one. He prefers that option, he said, because he believes it will result in lower taxes. Among other expenses, the city pointed to the increasing cost of the fire contract as the reason it needed to raise taxes in 2015.

The contract went up $355,843 this year, with a similar increase set for 2016.

Fire District 7 includes the areas of Clearview, Cathcart and Maltby to the Snohomish River. The district operates one station in Mill Creek, Fire Station 76, at 1020 153rd Street SE. Under the contract, at least five firefighters work from the station around-the-clock, including a paramedic.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.