They will decide whether to annex the city into the fire district.
Supporters have said annexation ensures that they pay the same tax rate as district residents, gives city residents a voice in the leadership and operation of the district, and allows the city and the district to continue their decades-long relationship.
The city doesn’t have its own fire department and contracts with the district to extinguish fires and respond to medical emergencies within its limits. The city intended to start its own department next year in the midst of a feud with the district over money and control. It changed course after the ouster of three longtime council members in November who opposed the move.
Both the City Council and the district’s board of fire commissioners have passed resolutions encouraging voters to pass the annexation. There is no organized opposition to annexation.
Annexation requires a simple majority – 50 percent plus one vote – by both city and district voters. There will be no change in the services city and district residents receive as a result of annexation.
If approved, the owner of a $250,000 home within Lacey is projected to pay about $30 more in property taxes levied by the district next year compared with this year. Property owners in the district could see a decrease in their property taxes.
“The residents in the district will have a lower rate,” Fire Chief Jim Broman told The Olympian Editorial Board last week. “But if their property value goes up, they could pay the same or more in real tax dollars. I’m always really careful about telling anyone their taxes are going down because it’s too difficult to project.”
With annexation, Lacey voters would elect fire commissioners, something they don’t do now. The district then would ask voters, likely in August, to increase the number of commissioners to five from three.
Until voters can elect the new fire commissioners, likely in November, the City Council would appoint two advisers to the board of fire commissioners. These advisers would represent the city’s interests but would not have voting power.
“We want the folks to get up and running on this expanded board as quickly as possible,” Mayor Tom Nelson said.
Among the first issues an expanded board would take up is seeking voter approval of a measure to increase property taxes paid to the district in 2012. State law caps the annual increase in property taxes levied by a public agency at 1 percent, but voters can approve a bigger increase.
“It’s something we have to consider, I think, just based on looking at the calls,” said Skip Houser, a longtime fire commissioner. “Ten thousand calls a year now, and service demand is increasing.”
A political action committee, the Committee for Annexation of Lacey into Fire District 3, has formed in support of annexation. It has raised more than $12,000, according to state Public Disclosure Commission’s online database.
The Lacey firefighters union and two of the three council members it actively supported during last fall’s City Council elections, Cynthia Pratt and Andy Ryder, have contributed nearly two-thirds of the funding to the political action committee.
Christian Hill: 360-754-5427
chill@theolympian.com
www.theolympian.com/outsideoly
