The West Thurston Regional Fire Authority has announced a new plan to maintain funding for services, if the public approves it. After all, it's only been six months since voters shot down the RFA's last proposal.
The West Thurston RFA announced on social media last week that its leaders have put together a request to voters to restore its property tax levy to the amount it was in 2008, which was $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation. The levy is currently $0.97 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The levy request would be on the Aug. 1 primary election value.
The previous request to voters entailed bringing the property tax up from 97 cents to $1.71. That number would have been reduced by about 8 cents per $1,000 per year, according to previous reporting.
The news comes just a few days after Olympia and Tumwater citizens voted against consolidating its fire departments under an RFA. Its plan included a Fire Benefit Charge and a portion of property taxes from both cities, rather than a direct property tax increase.
According to the West Thurston RFA's website, the levy lid lift would last for six years, or until 2029. There is one stipulation: If passed, the amount of money collected by the RFA could increase yearly.
There would be an annual limit of up to 6%. An example the RFA uses would be if an RFA had collected $5 million in tax revenue this year, it could increase the amount it collects the next year by 6%, or $300,000. State law requires that percentage be no more than 1%, unless a higher percentage is approved by voters.
Fire Chief Rob Smith told The Olympian the higher limit is needed because the mandated 1% rarely keeps up with increased costs to deliver emergency services. The increases would ensure the RFA can keep up with property values increasing, which in turn brings down the property tax levy rate.
If approved, property taxes would be an additional $0.53 per $1,000 of assessed value starting in 2024 compared to this year. The owner of a $300,000 home could expect to pay an additional $13.25 per month, and a $400,000 home would pay $17.67 more a month.
The website notes that the Maintenance & Operation levy that failed in November had folks paying a combined $2.16, which is 66 cents higher than the new plan.
The West Thurston RFA was funded entirely by the M&O levy, along with the 97-cent regular fire levy. Smith said the RFA is making do without the M&O levy funds, but has had to make many sacrifices that won't work long term.
The RFA website notes that the fire department doesn't get steady funding from the county, state or federal government. The approval of a levy lid lift would help West Thurston stabilize its funding and allow it to continue delivering services, not necessarily enhance them. The RFA isn't asking for funding to hire additional firefighters.
The failure of the O&M levy in November meant the loss of about $2.5 million, Smith said. In turn, three fire stations were set to close and 15 EMS and firefighter positions were issued layoff notices. If the August proposition passes, those positions will stay and stations won't have to close. If not, services will be cut in half by Jan. 1.
"If we lose this funding from a failed levy lid lift, it will substantially affect our ability to safely staff, and our response times will be impacted to the negative," Smith said.
Smith said closing fire departments could raise fire insurance premiums for homeowners, making things more expensive in the long run. He said when fire departments close, the Public Protection Classification program re-evaluates the department rating on a scale of 1 to 10. The West Thurston RFA has a 4 rating. In comparison, Olympia's is a Class 2 and Tumwater's is a Class 4.
The West Thurston RFA serves about 30,000 residents from Delphi to Grand Mound and responds to nearly 3,000 calls a year, according to its website.
Smith said knowing that citizens of Olympia and Tumwater voted down the formation of an RFA makes him a little uneasy. He said it causes concern when you take into account the Centralia School District also failed two levy attempts.
But he said since the West Thurston RFA has been in existence for nearly 15 years, all the data on where the public's money is being spent is readily available. The West Thurston RFA has a different funding model, he said, and the RFA learned from the M&O levy failure.
Smith said the RFA recently conducted a public survey on what they're doing well, what can be improved and if the public would support a "reasonable tax structure" to maintain the services they currently provide. He said the responses were overwhelmingly positive.
"We believe that's exactly what this is, a very reasonable, affordable strategy to maintain services," Smith said.
Smith said since the property tax levy erodes naturally over time with inflation and other costs, coupled with the 6% limit lasting only six years, the plan being presented to voters in August is a temporary one. He said the plan would buy them time for a couple years, but additional funding sources will have to be considered. He said it could come as a small Maintenance & Operations levy, much smaller than the previously proposed one, or something entirely different.
"To say we're not concerned about the current environment, it goes without saying," he said. "But we also understand the inflationary pressures; we have them ourselves. The cost of everything is going up for everybody."
Smith said there will be opportunities for public engagement, and the department is planning to file a formal resolution May 12 to kick off the election campaign. He said the department's website will provide updates on events and how to get involved in the conversation.
"We're in the business of providing emergency service to our citizens, and that's the most important, critical element we want to maintain," Smith said. "Our citizens, they own this fire station and all this equipment. They have ownership in their fire department, and we want them to have a return on their investment."
