SNOHOMISH -Voters have approved a $1.2 million emergency medical services levy that will pay to bring paramedics back to Snohomish County Fire District 4.
The levy passed with 82 percent approval, according to the Snohomish County Auditor’s Web site.
“It looks like it’s an overwhelming and resounding yes,” said Fire Commissioner Roger Portmann.
The tax will not be collected until next year. Fire district officials will spend reserve dollars this year to resume local paramedic services as soon as possible, Chief Mark Collins said.
Depending on the district’s ability to hire and train people, paramedic services could be up and running in downtown Snohomish by fall, officials said.
Deputy Chief Ron Simmons said he was pleasantly surprised the measure was passing by such a large margin.
“I personally didn’t have much faith that it would go over 80 percent,” he said, while celebrating at a party. “This just exceeded everybody’s expectations. We’re happy. We’re glad the public recognized the need and we’re going to do everything possible to get this thing up and running as soon as possible.”
Paramedic service was halted in January because of a lack of funds, Collins said.
That’s when the district decided to seek the levy, asking voters to pay about 40 cents a day for advanced-level medics based in the neighborhood.
In the meantime, Snohomish officials struck deals with neighboring fire districts to send help in case of heart attacks, strokes or other dire medical emergencies, he said.
Without a paramedic based in downtown Snohomish, however, response times climbed from an average of about six minutes last year to as much as 16 minutes, Collins said.
Fire District 4 serves about 27,000 people in 60 square miles around the city of Snohomish with about 75 firefighters, a combination of paid and volunteer staff.
Officials have been trying for years to get voter support for emergency medical services.
Five times since 2001, voters have turned down EMS levies. The last time, in 2005, less than 40 percent of voters supported the levy.
Collins blames poor communication and conflict within the department’s ranks for the previous levy failures. Those levies also competed for attention during busy elections.
Unified support this time among firefighters – paid and volunteer – helped push the levy to passage, Collins said.
“What is it like? Oh my gosh, it’s great because this has failed five times before,” said campaign manager Kristine Petereit, after hearing the results Tuesday night. “All of our citizen volunteers have worked their tails off, and they’re ecstatic.”
Property owners can expect to see their property tax assessments increase by about $140 a year for a home assessed at $400,000.
Not everyone is happy about the tax increase.
Longtime Snohomish resident Fred Howard said he supports paramedic service but thinks the money to pay for medics could have come from a different government bank account.
“I’ll be happy that we have paramedic service,” Howard, 65, said. “I’ll be unhappy that we’ll be forced to pay more tax dollars.”
Aside from limited federal and state grants, fire districts are funded entirely by local taxes, Collins said.
Fire district officials now will begin the process of hiring paramedics and obtaining the necessary state and county approval to operate paramedics.
Several experienced candidates have expressed interest, Collins said.
While no one ever thinks they’ll need paramedics to come to the door, with passage of the levy, Snohomish residents can rest a bit easier knowing help will be close by.
“This is a needed function for the fire service in our area,” Collins said.
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