EDMONDS — About 100 Edmonds residents gathered Monday at the Edmonds Waterfront Center to discuss the upcoming special election vote on whether to annex into the regional fire authority.
South County Fire notified city officials in December 2023 that it would terminate its contract at the end of 2025 due to the increased financial demand of servicing the city. After a year of exploring its options, the city council moved to place annexation on the ballot. On April 22, the decision will go to voters.
Monday’s event, hosted by Edmonds Civic Roundtable, featured presentations from residents who volunteered to research the history and potential effects of the annexation vote. The goal, organizers said, was to provide unbiased, nonpartisan information to help the community make an informed decision in April.
“We all have a view from a point,” said Gil Morgan, board chair for the Edmonds Civic Roundtable. “Some people in here voted Republican and some voted Democrat, and we’re all in the same room. We all love Edmonds, we want good things to happen in our community and that’s why we’re here.”
In the first presentation, Edmonds resident Larry Fuell spoke about the history of emergency services in Edmonds. The city had its own fire department until 2010 when it entered into a contract with South County Fire to save money. Edmonds is the only city that still has a separate contract with the regional fire authority. Either party is allowed to exit the contract as long as they give two years’ notice.
Next, Edmonds resident Nicole Gaba explained how a “yes” vote would affect the city and its residents. The fire and EMS services Edmonds currently receives would not change. In addition, Edmonds would have an elected representative on South County Fire’s Board of Commissioners. This would be a non-voting representative, Gaba said.
Someone with the average assessed home value in Edmonds of $895,700 currently pays about $680 per year for fire and EMS services. Under annexation, that would increase to about $1,117 per year.
“Edmonds is in such a crunch situation right now, and the bottom line for this particular issue is that property taxes are going to go up a lot,” resident Donnie Griffin said. “Now I have to figure out how that impacts me personally, how that impacts my community and how it impacts my neighbors.”
Finally, Edmonds resident Matt Cox discussed what would happen if voters shoot down the measure in April. If residents vote against annexation, both the city and South County Fire must decide by July 1 whether to enter a temporary contract for 2026. They could also decide to extend the temporary contract for one year at a time. It is unclear what would happen if one or both parties decide against entering or extending the contract.
In December, the city passed its budget, which included significant cuts in an attempt to bridge its $13 million deficit. The current budget relies on voters approving both annexation and a $6 million levy lid lift in August or November. If one or both measures don’t pass, the city will have to find new ways to bridge its deficit.
“This RFA annexation is so complex, it’s not something I can just read in a ballot measure and get,” Griffin said. “So I decided to come out and hear the details. Getting a factual perspective without opinion has been really hard to find.”
After the presentations, attendees formulated questions with their tables. Representatives from the Edmonds City Council and South County Fire were available to answer their questions informally at the end of the event.
“It was a successful event as far as it went,” resident Roger Pence said. “The downside, perhaps, was that we did not hear from the fire district or the city, we had these independent resource people who were smart and studied, and they certainly shared some useful information, but they were not the key players.”
The city of Edmonds and community organizations will hold more informational events leading up to April’s election. Northwest Civic Circle is hosting a community discussion at 1 p.m. Feb. 22 at Edmonds Lutheran Church.
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
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