Fire District 4 voters should wait to lift levy lid

Regarding the Aug. 1 election issue by Fire District 4 seeking a levy lid lift:

Normally, local taxing districts’ budgets are subjected to an annual 1 percent budget increase cap (lid) without voter approval. District 4 voters in 2017 generously approved raising that 1 percent lid to a 6 percent lid. The fire levy amount steadily grew each year from $5.7 million in 2017 to $9.4 million in 2023, almost doubling.

Now, the district wants voters to approve another permanent annual 6 percent increase. What would that mean to a typical Snohomish homeowner or renter? Here’s the impact according to Linda Redmon, Sam Low and John Lovick as they wrote in the Voters Pamphlet due to be mailed July 12: For a dwelling unit valued at $500,000 in 2023, a property tax hike of $180 in 2024 and with 6 percent annual compounding, the tax increases to $241 in 2028. For a home valued at $1 million, the tax increases to $360 in 2024 and $482 in 2028.

Inexplicably, Redmon, Low and Lovick wrote in the Voters Pamphlet that the district fire levy amount had fallen between 2017 to 2023. Voters, don’t be bamboozled by that deception. The fire levy almost doubled in that period. (Source: Snohomish County Assessor’s Office link: www.snohomishcountywa.gov/2208/Annual-Reports

Additionally, there are discussions about the district merging with a neighboring fire district; ostensibly to reduce operational expenses and costs in overhead, facilities, and equipment.

Therefore, it is premature this year for district voters to approve a 6 percent permanent annual tax increases and to commit to a land deal on Pine Avenue with the City of Snohomish, given so few details for the public.

Haste makes waste. There are too many unknowns at this point for the voters to make an informed decision in the Aug. 1 election.

Morgan Davis

Snohomish