SEQUIM — Without a levy lid lift, Clallam County Fire District No. 3 will have to start drawing on reserves — and consider cuts to district’s services — by 2019, chief Ben Andrews said.
Andrews said he plans to come to fire commissioners with a proposal for the general election ballot at the board’s Tuesday meeting.
Though commissioners would have another meeting on July 17 to make a decision, the board could vote on the resolution Tuesday, according to the fire district.
Both meetings are set for 1 p.m. at fire district headquarters, 323 N. Fifth Ave.
In a public hearing at District 3’s headquarters on June 19, Andrews detailed the need for a boost in revenues that he said are essential to maintaining the district’s services, which include Emergency Medical Service (EMS) calls, fire suppression, technical rescue, hazardous material spills and vehicle wrecks.
“The problem we have is that revenue is not keeping up with the cost to provide services,” Andrews said.
The proposal would “lift” the tax rate for local property owners back to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, a rate voters approved in 2004 but has since dropped to $1.26 as property values have increased.
At the same time, cost for fire protection and EMS services has increased about 3.4 percent each year, Andrews said.
If a general levy lid lift does go before voters to bring the rate back to $1.50, fire officials report it would cost about $60 more per year to homeowners with a $250,000 home.
The Clallam County elections office would need a proposal by early August to put on the ballot for the Nov. 6 general election ballot, Andrews said.
“We don’t really have a lot of time,” Andrews said. “If we don’t take action, we’ve got repercussions next year.”
Funds raised would go to maintain EMS levels, train personnel and fund some facility and equipment needs, he said.
“I’m OK with coming to the voters [with this],” Andrews said. “I think the community knows what we do and what kind of service we provide.”
Read more about the Clallam Fire District No. 3 levy lid lift proposal here.
The fire district’s $9 million annual budget is funded by a general levy (68 percent), an EMS levy (26 percent) and other revenues such as charges for service, timber tax funds and donations/grants (6 percent).
About 86 percent of the district’s calls for service are EMS calls.
Fire district staff responded to about 7,300 calls for service in 2017 — a bit down from 2016 but up 33 percent in the past seven years — and serves a 142-square mile district from Gardiner to the east to Bagley Creek to the west. The fire district has 47 full- and part-time employees and operates three full-time (24-hour) stations and four volunteer stations.
While seeing the cost to maintain services rise, Andrews said the fire district is constricted by a 1 percent cap per year increase on junior taxing district levies that Washington state voters approved in 2001.
There might be some budget relief in sight, Andrews noted: Some fire districts in the state are passing measures that would keep their levy figures constant or levies that adjust tax rates to keep up with inflation using a Consumer Price Index.
Fire district staffing is also a concern as call rates rise, Andrews said. The fire district hasn’t added staff since 2008, when they hired two firefighters for the Blyn station in 2008.
“The [levy] lid lift won’t solve the staffing issue,” Andrews said. “We’re just trying to stabilize funding for current service levels.”
Andrews said the fire district has made some adjustments to conserve funds, from taking advantage of a highway fuel tax rebate to retrofitting an ambulance instead of replacing it, to working with homeowners whose individual insurance can reimburse fire districts after major fires. The district is also looking at using utility vehicles instead of ambulances at volunteer stations such as R Corner, he said.
In September 2017, fire district commissioners considered a three-year federal grant that would have added six firefighters to the workforce. It would have given the district about $1.007 million to cover 75 percent of wage and benefit costs in 2018 and 2019 and 35 percent in 2020. However, commissioners turned the grant down when they considered the cost — about $1.1 million over those three years — compared to the district’s reserves.
Securing a levy lid lift from voters in November might allow the district to secure grants such as these, Andrews said.
Getting consistent funding for the district might take levy proposals every few years, Andrew said. He noted that, in addition to a general levy boost, the district’s 10-year EMS levy will expire in two years.
“This is something we’re going to have to come back to the voters for, periodically,” Andrews said.
For more about the levy lid lift proposal, contact Andrews at bandrews@ccfd3.org or via mail at Clallam County Fire District 3, Fire Chief Ben Andrews, 323 N. Fifth Ave., Sequim WA, 98382.
To reach the fire district, call 360-683-4242 or visit https://ccfd3.org.
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Michael Dashiell is the editor of the Sequim Gazette of the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which also is composed of other Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum. Reach him at editor@sequimgazette.com.
