Fire department wants $1.5 million tax hike

Published 6:02 pm Thursday, February 21, 2008

Edmonds’ fire department is preparing to ask voters for a bigger allowance.

A ballot measure tentatively scheduled for May 20 could ask for about $1.5 million in funding for Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

Inflation’s constant march has reduced the department’s tax rate in Edmonds from 50 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value in 2002 to roughly 32 cents in 2008. The EMS levy would restore the tax rate to 50 cents per thousand.

The EMS levy will not be the only measure on the May 20 ballot. The Edmonds School District will ask voters to approve a new levy rate of 28 cents per thousand.

For an average homeowner, the new EMS tax would cost about $83 a year. The city’s average home price is $457,000, so the average fire department tax bill would rise from about $146 to $229. The school district’s levy rate would actually drop from 52 cents, which should reduce the tax for homeowners, officials said.

Since 2002, the fire department’s expenses have risen by roughly 29 percent, Fire Chief Tom Tomberg told the City Council Feb. 19.

EMS services in the city — which include both emergency medical technicians and proper paramedics — cost approximately $5.5 million a year. The current EMS levy generates about $2.5 million annually, which means the city’s general fund must cover the rest.

About 71 percent of the fire department’s activity is EMS-related, Tomberg said.

“It is the number one thing we do,” he said. “It is directly related to saving life and in many cases sustaining lives.”

The department hopes to replace two aid units, and a third aid car needs a new chassis, Tomberg said.

If the EMS levy is approved, the fire department will also add an aid unit during peak hours, he said.

The department needs additional staff and training, which EMS levy funding could provide, as well as a new records management system and a new computer-aided dispatch system, Tomberg said.

Because the EMS levy is seeking to restore a previously approved levy amount, just over 50 percent of voters need to approve it in order for it to pass.

The reason the tax rate has slipped from $0.50 per thousand to $0.32 is because of inflation. The fire department’s annual tax income — in terms of dollars — cannot rise more than 1 percent a year without voter approval, city attorney Scott Snyder said. As property values increase, the tax rate decreases.

If home prices continue to rise, it is likely that every few years the fire department and other taxing districts will continue to need to ask voters for approval to restore their tax rates, he said.

In Edmonds, there appears to be plenty of support for the EMS levy. The 2002 levy passed with 84 percent of the vote.

Support is still strong.

David Page, who owns Edmonds Realty on Puget Drive, said he’s had six different medical emergencies at his business in the 25 years he has owned it.

The fire department always responds quickly, he said.

“It is probably the best expenditure of our money,” Page told the council Feb. 19. “This is the kind of service we want. There is no price tag you can put on it.”

Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com