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Fire district levy to add staff
By Irene Torres
KP News
As the population density increases on the Key
Peninsula, the need for fire suppression and prevention
will continue to grow. To address those needs, Key
Peninsula’s Fire District No. 16 will ask voters for
support to collect more property tax money than
currently allowed by Initiative 747, or a “levy lid
lift,” on this fall’s ballot. The district sees the
operating costs outpacing the property tax revenues.
When the levy lid is lifted — if the measure passes —
the fire district will add as many as 10 firefighters
including paramedics. This would bring to 27 the number
of shift personnel, supported by about 30 community
volunteers, to serve the entire Key Peninsula
population. The new staffing level would increase the
minimum number of paid career staff per shift from five
to at least seven.
In the June KP News, Chief Tom
Lique discussed the purchase of nearly $2 million in
equipment after the 2004 levy passed. Lique said,
“Because of initiative 747…a 1 percent cap (or lid)
makes it very difficult for the department to meet the
increases in the cost of providing services.”
He explained, “If this lid lift
fails, a 2007 increase of 1 percent allows our $3.9
million budget to increase $39,000. This amount does not
keep up with the increased financial demands on the
department. The downward trending in the rate of
collection continues until the voters’ approval to ‘lift
the lid’ brings the collection rates back to their $1.50
and $0.50 levels. An approval on a lid lift in 2006
would mean an approximate $490,000 increase in
suppression and $190,000 increase in EMS for the 2007
budget. In 2008 because of the 1 percent cap, our
collection rate begins the downward trend again.”
The taxing authority is a
complicated process, but the result is this: As
communities grow and property values increase at
unprecedented rates, the individual homeowner’s tax
obligation to the fire district actually decreases.
Christina Bosch, administrative
manager and district secretary, gave this example: “…In
2002, the district could only call for an additional 1
percent, ($64,154) in levied taxes. This amount may seem
significant… but salaries and benefits increased by
$75,000 and other operating costs increased by another 3
percent to 5 percent... It didn’t take long before the
district was in a position that required us to approach
the voters for lid lift levy. In September 2004…the
district chose not to place an EMS lid lift levy before
the voters…so (it) was held to the language of I-747 for
the EMS portion of our budget. ...The lid lift levy is
good for one year only.”
When asked about the impact of a
recent ruling of a King County Superior Court against
I-747, she said, “Well, it’s not going to mean
much....at least not in the near future. We are
expecting this decision to be taken to the (state)
Supreme Court, so we don’t expect final action to be
taken in time to mean much of anything for the 2007
budget year.”
To keep pace, fire districts face
requesting a lift on the tax lid every year or so, an
action that brings the tax rate back to the maximum 1
percent level of assessed value, as allowed by law.
Voters must be educated about the process each time, and
somehow be convinced that their tax dollars are being
used wisely.
During a recent FD-16 Board of
Commissioners meeting, a resolution to place the lid
lift measure on the ballot for the voters to decide
passed 2 to 1, with recently elected Commissioner Allan
Yanity voting against. He said he would not support a
levy as long as the district was unwilling to examine
its drug testing and fitness for duty policy, which he
calls inadequate (see related
story).
Intent to pursue a vote on the levy
lid lift, a committee was formed to promote the passing
of the measure. The Firefighters’ Local has requested to
lead the effort, with paid and volunteer firefighters,
paid administrative staff and one citizen currently
serving on the committee, which invites interested
members of the community to join them (the committee may
be contacted via email to
local3152@aol.com.)
State legislators have been asked
to consider a bill to allow taxing districts to remove
the levy lid up to six consecutive years without
conducting such frequent elections, and have debated the
measure during the past two sessions without passing a
law. The fire district must pay for each election, a
cost that approaches $60,000. Key Peninsula Fire
District may be the only Pierce County district to ask
for a lid lift in 2006, but other districts are planning
a vote in 2007. Firefighters will ask for this
consideration again during next year’s legislative
session.
Previous Fire District No. 16
Commissioner Ed Taylor told the KP News, “I do support
the levy lid lift and see a real need for additional
personnel. If you obtain data about the number of calls
each year and chart that for several years, you will see
the increased demand for service. The district needs to
add manpower to cover these calls.”
According to Christina Bosch, the
district’s call volume has increased as much as 5
percent to 6 percent per year for the last three to four
years and Gig Harbor Fire & Rescue needs to respond to
FD-16 calls for “mutual aid” more and more. “It is our
district personnel that our ... citizens expect to see
when they dial 911, not other districts,” she said.
Lique acknowledged that tensions
among the commissioners could impact the levy outcome
and said, “If the lid lift were not passed, the
department would continue to function. However, the
continued increase in expenses would create a situation
where a future lid lift would be placed on the ballot
for voter approval. Each ballot measure costs the
department, so at some point, continued failures of a
lid lift, with increases in expenses, would force
decisions that could impact service delivery.”
©Copyright 2005-2008, Key Peninsula
News, all rights reserved.
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