PORT ANGELES — An advisory committee unanimously recommended consolidating city and Clallam County Fire District 2 emergency services Thursday.
The vote is a precursor to Port Angeles City Council and fire commission votes later this summer on placing a measure on the ballot next year to form a combined taxing district — Port Angeles Fire & Rescue.
The new entity — a regional fire protection service authority — would be implemented by Jan. 1, 2012, if it is placed before voters in the proposed new district and approved by them.
“We are responsible to try to make this the most livable community it can be,” said City Council member Patrick Downie — who is a Consolidation Study Committee member — as he moved to move forward with the plan 30 minutes after the panel convened at the Port Angeles fire station.
If both the council and the fire commission approve, voters in Port Angeles and District 2 would consider approving the plan.
Double property tax rate
The establishment of the new district would mean more than double the property tax rate that District 2 residents now pay for emergency services but would provide far better coverage, especially for those District 2 residents, Port Angeles Fire Chief Dan McKeen and District 2 Chief Jon Bugher said.
If voters approved consolidation and an attendant levy, District 2’s tax rate for emergency services would increase from 61 cents per $1,000 of valuation to about $1.35 per $1,000.
That’s the same tax rate that city property owners pay for fire and emergency medical services as part of their overall property tax bill for all city services.
The owner of a $200,000 home in District 2 would see the portion of property taxes for emergency services increase from $122 to $270 a year if voters in the city and the fire district approve the consolidation in a single election in spring or early summer 2011.
City property owners would see little change in their property tax bills.
Benefits outlined
But city and District 2 property owners both would benefit by the addition of seven firefighter-paramedics, the joining of the two volunteer emergency medical forces into an 84-person force, the 24/7 staffing of District 2’s now-unstaffed station at Deer Park and partial staffing of the district’s Dry Creek station just west of the city, McKeen said. All that would result from additional funding provided by consolidation, he said.
In addition, turnout times — how long it takes between a responder receiving an emergency call and arriving to fight a fire or save a life — will improve.
Residents in 85-square-mile District 2 — eight times larger than the city — are served solely by volunteer emergency medical personnel, the district’s own firefighting equipment and Olympic Ambulance, which handles primary medical services.
“Someone could argue that raising taxes during these tough times is a difficult thing to do,” McKeen said.
Consolidation, though, is about “sharing resources at a reasonable expense,” he said.
Is it worth it?
But some at the meeting, including District 2 resident Larry Byrne, took issue with the property tax increase for emergency services.
“It’s questionable that amount of money is worth the cost,” he said.
He also objected to paying more under consolidation while city residents would pay the same for more service.
“I want to know why I’m paying more and the city guys are getting better service at no cost,” Byrne said.
“The district will receive a much higher level of service,” McKeen responded.
Bugher, who would retire if consolidation occurs, added that the tax increase for District 2 residents “is a small percentage of the overall tax burden.”
There are 11,232 registered voters in Port Angeles compared to 6,334 in Fire District 2.
The 12-person advisory committee, named by county commissioners in 2007, chaired by Mayor Dan Di Guilio, and including McKeen and Bugher, recommended consolidation after reviewing a 69-page Consolidation Feasibility Study authored by McKeen and Bugher with assistance from Peninsula College, District 2 attorney Joe Quinn and the city of Port Angeles.
The report is available from the Port Angeles Fire Department, 102 E. Fifth St., 360-417-4655.
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
