Firefighters will ask Camano Island voters Tuesday to approve a 67 percent increase in the district’s fire levy.
Stanwood firefighters in two districts in nearby Snohomish County also have measures on the ballot Tuesday.
The proposed increase on Camano Island would allow the district to replace aging fire equipment, add five firefighter-paramedics and improve emergency medical services, Camano Fire and Rescue Chief Tom Fields said Wednesday.
If the levy is approved, the rate would rise from 75 cents to $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That means the owner of a $200,000 home would pay $100 more a year – an increase from $150 to $250.
Firefighters need the money to keep pace with growth, Fields said. Emergency calls have more than doubled in the past seven years, from 648 in 1996 to 1,314 in 2003.
Despite a rise in the district’s population of more than 30 percent since 2000, the fire service levy has not increased since 1992. Without an increase, the district’s money would run out by the end of 2005, Fields said.
The levy also would allow firefighters to provide paramedic service instead of contracting with an ambulance company.
In neighboring Stanwood, the city’s fire department is asking for a permanent emergency and medical services levy at the same rate of the current six-year levy, which expires in December.
A change in state law in 1999 allowed fire districts to opt for permanent levies. Stanwood Fire Chief Kevin Taylor said this is the first year Stanwood could take advantage of that change in the law.
The levy would assess homeowners up to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. That means the owner of a $200,000 home would continue to pay $100 a year for emergency medical services.
Snohomish County Fire District 14 is not opting for a permanent levy. The district, which covers the rural areas outside Stanwood, will stay with the six-year levy, also at a rate of 50 cents per $1,000 of property value. That translates to $100 a year for the owner of a $200,000 home.
That would pay for a paramedic service contract of $170,000 a year, Capt. Christian Davis said.
“We’re projecting 1,300 calls this year,” Davis said. “Eighty percent of those will be medical.”
Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.
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