Everett may ask for tax hike

Published 9:43 pm Tuesday, February 16, 2010

EVERETT — City leaders put off a measure to pay for emergency medical services in July because they said the crummy economy made it a bad time to ask voters for a tax hike.

Now, half a year later, officials are eager to put a tax boost back on the ballot this spring.

This time, the special election is expected to cost $150,000 — a lot more than the $4,000 it would have cost if had been tacked on to the November general election.

Why now?

The economy hasn’t turned around but there are signs that’s changing, Mayor Ray Stephanson said. Also, he said the measure has a better chance of passing in a special election than if it had been plopped onto a crowded November ballot.

“By doing a special election, it allows us to focus on the one issue we’re asking people to support,” Stephanson said. “In this case, that’s a very successful paramedic program.”

The City Council plans to decide at 6:30 tonight whether to ask voters to approve the levy in a special April election.

This is the first time in a decade the city has asked voters for an emergency medical services levy.

In 2000, Everett voters approved an emergency medical services levy that allowed the city to boost property taxes by as much as 6 percent a year. That didn’t last long.

The next year, a state initiative limited tax increases — including the one Everett voters had already approved — to 1 percent per year.

In 2005, the city began billing insurance companies for ambulance rides, which brings in about a $1.5 million a year. For awhile, that allowed the fire department to keep its head above water.

Demand for services and the cost of doing business are rising and the 1 percent tax boost every year isn’t keeping pace, said Everett Fire Chief Murray Gordon. In the past decade, he estimates costs have ballooned by 30 percent.

This year, officials had to borrow $2 million from the city’s operating budget to pay for the EMS program.

Emergency medical services is a division of the fire department with 45 employees, including paramedics and emergency medical technicians. The money pays for around-the-clock service, supplies and training.

The tax would bump the rate from 31 cents to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. An owner of a $300,000 home, would pay $150 annually for the special tax, $57 more a year than now.

If passed, it would raise an estimated $2 million more — enough to sustain the program and pay back the loan from the city’s operating budget, said Debra Bryant, Everett’s chief financial officer.

The Everett Fire Department’s emergency medical services department is expected this year to spend about $7.8 million for emergency services. Most of that money, about $6.3 million, will pay salaries and benefits.

The decision to wait on the levy wasn’t a slam dunk. The council first voiced their support for placing the issue on the November election in June. Two weeks later, the council abruptly changed their mind after the mayor urged them to wait.

An informal committee of business owners and citizens who support the levy had urged him to wait, he said.

One of those on the committee, former firefighter and state Sen. Larry Vognild, said Tuesday they were worried about the levy failing in November.

“It just didn’t look good from a political standpoint,” he said. “On something this important, you really don’t want to take a chance.”

In July, council members Arlan Hatloe, Shannon Affholter and Paul Roberts voted in favor of waiting. Former Councilman Mark Olson voted to move forward. Councilman Drew Nielsen declined to vote because he said he didn’t have enough information. Councilwoman Brenda Stonecipher and Councilman Ron Gipson were absent.

Nielsen said Tuesday the council process “short-circuited.” The council should have vetted the idea more thoroughly before deciding.

“Some aspects probably should have been considered in more detail by the council,” he said.

Voters in Everett have long supported the emergency medical services, the mayor said. He expects this time they’ll do the same.

Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.