Fire District 1 has restoration levy on primary ballot

Published 7:35 am Friday, February 29, 2008

LYNNWOOD — Voters living in Snohomish County Fire District 1’s territory will be asked to restore the same levy rate in the Sept. 14 Primary Election.

“This is not a new tax,” said District 1 Chief Ed Widdis. “Prop. 1 asks voters to reauthorize the levy at the same rate they approved two years ago.”

This would amount to an increase of about $26 a year for the owner of a home valued at $200,000, he said.

State law sets a one percent limit on budget increases. As a result, the fire levy rate drops a few cents each year.

Meanwhile, according to Widdis, department labor and operating costs are increasing at a rate greater than the one percent state limit. To keep pace, state law allows a public vote to exceed the one percent limit.

The one percent limit set by the state has caused Fire District 1’s fire levy rate to drop to about $1.37. Passage of Proposition 1 would allow the fire district to exceed the one percent limit and restore the fire levy to the $1.50 rate previously approved by voters.

Widdis said the fire levy is the primary source of revenue for Fire District 1 and is used to fund day-to-day staffing and operations. The levy will provide funding to continue emergency response at today’s level of service.

The district serves more than 120,000 residents in the 32-square-mile unincorporated area south of Everett and north of Lynnwood, Edmonds and Brier.

The district staffs six fire stations around the clock with firefighters certified as either emergency medical technicians or paramedics to respond to medical as well as fire emergencies.

Voters within the city limits of Lynnwood, Edmonds and Mill Creek will not see the fire proposition on their primary ballots.