JOYCE — Clallam County Fire District 4 is hosting two meetings to inform voters about a levy-lid lift they are being asked to approve on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The town hall meetings are set for 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, and 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Crescent Grange, 50724 state Highway 112 in Joyce.
The fire district is asking Joyce voters to approve a five-year property tax increase to help the fire district deal with declining timber revenue.
A simple majority is required for approval of Proposition 1, a levy-lid lift.
Voters will decide if the district’s levy rate should increase by 69 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, or from 81 cents currently to $1.50.
The increase of 69 cents under the proposed measure would mean property taxes on a home valued at $200,000 would increase about $138.
The levy-lid lift, if approved, would generate about $150,000 annually for the fire district.
Fire Chief Greg Waters said the fire district in previous years has been able to fund up to half of its nearly $500,000 operating budget with revenue from sales of timber on trust lands — an amount that has ranged from $90,000 to $200,000 during any given year — but last year timber revenue of $21,000 accounted for only 4.3 percent of the district’s budget.
This forced the district to dip into reserves to make up the difference.
“[Timber revenue] trending downward is the unfortunate part,” Waters said.
“There’s a lot of outside factors involved in the timber industry and how it relates to the amount we receive and the amounts the county is projecting is nowhere near.”
Waters said the fire district tries to keep enough money in reserves to cover a year’s worth of operations, but reserves are dwindling.
He said reserves are at about $600,000 to $650,000 — the lowest he’s seen in “a long time.”
This has him nervous.
“We would not be asking the public for this unless we felt collectively as a district that this something we absolutely had to do,” Waters said.
“No one likes to pay more, but to ensure the level of services we receive, including to have paramedics available most of the time, that’s very significant that we keep this level of service that people are coming to get used to.”
Waters said that if the property tax increase is approved, the fire district will be able to put some of the revenue aside to help fund vehicle maintenance and replacement as the fleet ages.
It also would be used to help recruit and maintain volunteers.
Waters said call volume has doubled since the fire district last requested a levy-lid lift.
This year call volume is expected to reach about 300 calls for service.
At any given time, the district has between 20 and 25 volunteers.
The fire district is 80 square miles and has 4,000 residents.
It covers the area between milepost 33.5 on state Highway 112 east of Pysht to Ram Hill Road and between the northern boundary of Olympic National Park and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
________
Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
