Fire commissioners vote to bring tax increases to the ballot

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Another ask is on the way to voters from East Jefferson Fire Rescue.

Proposed property tax hikes will be brought to residents of the newly enlarged Jefferson County Fire Protection District No. 1 during the Feb. 14 Special Election.

After voters in Port Ludlow overwhelmingly supported merging Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue with East Jefferson Fire Rescue, commissioners for East Jefferson decided on Dec. 13 to request a raise to the district’s emergency medical services (EMS) tax levy as well as the general fire services levy.

A ballot proposal will seek approval of an increase from 36 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value to 50 cents for EMS, and from 85 cents to $1.30 for general fire service.

Officials acknowledged that asking for tax increases may not be universally popular.

“We’re all very sensitive to the challenge that this is a really bad time to be asking,” said East Jefferson Fire Commissioner Deborah Stinson. “But we’re here now. We have to do this.”

By state law, taxing districts must seek voter approval to increase property tax revenue of more than 1 percent per year.

If approved, the property tax increases will go into effect in 2024 and apply to property owners in the East Jefferson Fire Rescue’s territory, which, starting Jan. 1, will include Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue.

The levy increases would be permanent, but overtime can decrease if assessed property values increase.

East Jefferson Fire Chief Bret Black noted that even if the proposed levy increases  pass, it will only be enough to restore programs that have been cut due to budget shortfalls.

“We are literally cutting more than just fat. We are cutting muscle and tissue off the organization,” Black said of the department’s 2023 budget.

“We haven’t talked about any of the innovations that are laid out in the strategic plan such as adding personnel or facilities or technical specialties yet,” he added.

To start 2023, the department will operate at 52 percent of its reserves.

By the end of 2023, that number will drop to 34 percent even with cuts, Black said.

If the district continues deficit spending at the same rate, those reserves will fall to 16 percent by the end of 2024.

A total of $3.3 million in cuts have been made to the 2023 budget to pare back training, safety gear and facility repairs, and, largest of all, vehicles.

“If we don’t start improving our equipment, for one thing, it just costs us more money in the end. [Ambulance] No. 33 has cost us probably half of the replacement value this year,” said Port Ludlow Fire Commissioner Glenn Clemens.

While the merger with East Jefferson and Port Ludlow does not officially take effect until
Jan. 1, Ludlow commissioners were invited to the meeting to voice their say even though they could not vote on the measures.

“If we’re just going to end up spending the money one way or the other, I think it’s a lot better to be proactive, have nicer, better, more reliable equipment. And we’re supporting the firefighters when they know they have very reliable state of the art equipment,” Clemens added.

“The million dollars cut for 2023 included two ambulance re-chassis. One per each agency, or two for the new agency for 2023,” Black said.

In addition to ambulances, the department said it is in need of new fire engines, which can be even more costly.

“A brand-new fire engine with all the hose and equipment we would need costs about $900,000 today. We need four probably, but we’re only suggesting two at a time,” Black said.

After the meeting, Black explained how the measures, if passed, might impact the department.

“It’ll pull us out of the deficit spending that we’re in,” he said.