Everett pulls emergency medical services levy from fall ballot

EVERETT — A property tax increase to pay for emergency medical services may be important, but it’s not going on the ballot in November.

The Everett City Council on Wednesday did an about-face on whether to put it before voters, mainly because a panel of business owners and residents argued that this is the wrong time to ask for a tax increase.

“I was getting a resounding and repeated message that this is ­really a tough economy,” Mayor Ray Stephanson said. “There are a lot of businesses that are barely surviving and people who can hardly make their mortgage payments.”

The proposal sought to increase the city’s emergency medical service levy for the first time in nine years. Emergency medical services is a division of the fire department with 48 employees and includes paramedics and emergency medical technicians.

The tax increase would have bumped the rate from 31 cents to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. For the owner of a $300,000 home, the tax increase would have meant paying $150 annually for the special tax, $57 more a year than they do now.

If passed, it would have raised an estimated $2.5 million more in property tax collections per year to pay for around-the-clock emergency medical services, supplies and training. Without the increase, city officials say Everett’s emergency services department is on pace to run up a $2 million budget deficit next year.

The city doesn’t plan to cut services, but will borrow from another fund for this year. A long-term fix hasn’t been determined.

The tax-increase proposal hardly got off the ground before the mayor’s supporters began to question the timing of the increase, which the mayor originally supported.

Everett auto dealer Buzz Rodland, and former Democratic state Sen. Larry Vognild were asked by the mayor’s office to spearhead a campaign in favor of the tax increase.

Instead of cheering on an EMS levy increase, the pair pleaded with the council to postpone putting the tax measure on the ballot until the economy improves. They also challenged the council to hold off on a $4 million downtown children’s theater and outdoor plaza, a contentious project that has divided the council.

“As a business person, I’m convinced that we’ve reached or that we are near the valley,” said Rodland, who owns a Toyota dealership in Everett. “But any reasonable person can see that it is going to be a long road back.”

Rodland said the increase could harm Everett’s business competitiveness, in the eyes of its biggest employer, the Boeing Co., which some fear could leave Washington.

City Councilman Shannon Affholter said the timing could erode support for a program that has traditionally received overwhelming voter approval. He originally supported the idea of putting the tax on the November ballot.

Everett voters have never rejected the renewal or increase of an emergency services levy since it was created in 1982.

“The concern is, if you put it in front of the voters at this time, it might not pass,” he said.

Everett Fire Chief Murray Gordon said he doesn’t believe the measure was in jeopardy of failing. Still, he said he supports holding off for another year or two.

“Based on a lot of thought and a very deliberate process, it was just decided that now is not the right time to ask people to raise their property taxes,” he said.

Everett voters in 2000 approved a perpetual EMS levy. The vote included a provision that allowed the city to increase the levy by as much as 6 percent a year without voter approval.

The following year, Initiative 747, which limits property tax collection increases to 1 percent per year without voter approval, struck down that provision.

In the meantime, demand for emergency medical services and the cost of doing business has increased at a greater rate, officials say.

To make up for the shortfall, the City Council in 2005 created a special fee for ambulance services. Stephanson said that change adds about $500,000 in revenue for the EMS program every year.

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 $6.5 million, will pay the salaries and benefits of firefighter paramedics and emergency medical technicians.

The council voted 3-1 to withdraw support for the tax levy. Council members Arlen Hatloe, Affholter and Paul Roberts voted in favor of waiting. Councilman Mark Olson voted to move forward. Councilman Drew Nielsen declined to vote and Councilwoman Brenda Stonecipher and Councilman Ron Gipson were absent.

David Chircop: 425-339-3429, dchircop@heraldnet.com.