Four fire districts seek operating levies

Published 10:28 pm Saturday, August 18, 2007

Levies that keep four Snohomish County fire departments staffed and equipped with lifesaving tools are in voters’ hands.

Voters in rural Tulalip, unincorporated south Snohomish County, and the areas around Sultan and Index will decide whether to continue existing fire district levies. The levies are on the primary ballot. Voters must return their ballots by Tuesday for their votes to count.

Fire District 1

Based in south Snohomish County, Fire District 1 consists of six fire stations, 148 full-time firefighters and paramedics, and around a dozen volunteers. The district is asking voters to continue a 2002 levy that collects 50 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value in the district.

Due to laws restricting the amount of money a taxing district can collect in a year, the levy rate has dropped to 43 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.

District officials want the levy to return to the rate to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. It would cost $150 a year for the owner of a $300,000 home. The proposed levy is permanent.

If passed, the levy would fund emergency medical services, including paramedics and emergency medical technicians, said Fire Commissioner Brian McMahan. He said the levy will help the fire district keep up with the medical needs of a growing community.

Since the levy is not a new tax, but a continuation of an existing levy, it only needs a simple majority of the vote to pass. The district borders Everett and Lynnwood and includes Mountlake Terrace.

Fire District 5

Voters living in and around Sultan will decide whether to continue a levy passed in 2005 that has enabled Fire District 5 to staff its fire station around the clock, according to Fire Chief Merlin Halverson.

The levy would enable the district to continue running the station with full-time staff during the day and part-time staff at night.

“Now that we have 24/7 coverage, we can respond to most calls in under two minutes,” Halverson said. “That wasn’t possible when we were relying on on-call volunteers.”

The levy will cost property owners $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value, or $450 for the owner of a $300,000 home.

The levy would begin in 2008 and continue for five years. The levy needs at least 50 percent of the vote to pass.

Fire District 15

Tulalip-based Fire District 15 is looking to pass a permanent levy that would cost property owners 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. Voters approved a 25 cent levy a few years ago, but this levy would make the levy permanent. The levy rate may go down due to growth in the district’s assessed value, but it will not go up without voter approval.

The levy would fund emergency medical services, including a $300 per call fee the district pays the Marysville Fire District to transport patients with life-threatening conditions to area hospitals, said Fire Commissioner Peter Walton.

“Through the contract with Marysville, we can save many people’s lives, where we could not afford to do it ourselves,” he said.

The levy would cost $75 a year for the owner of a $300,000 home.

Because this would be the district’s first permanent 25 cent emergency medical services levy, it needs a 60 percent supermajority to pass.

Fire District 28

Fire District 28 is looking to renew a levy to buy medical equipment and provide medical services for people living in the 170-square-mile rural area in and around Index.

“This is for syringes and IV fluids and equipment on our aid car and the aid car itself – anything to do with medical services,” said Assistant Chief Ernie Walters.

In addition to Walters, a full-time paid firefighter, nine volunteers man the station and respond to calls.

The levy would cost property owners 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. It would cost $75 a year for the owner of a $300,000 home.

The levy would begin in 2008 and expire in 2013. The levy needs at least 50 percent of the vote to pass.