Fire districts ask voters for maximum levy rate

By Jeremy Pawloski | The Olympian • Published August 13, 2008

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Voters in Littlerock Fire District 11 and Grand Mound-Rochester are being asked to fund their fire departments at the maximum tax level under levies being put to voters Tuesday.

If it passes in Littlerock, the property tax would go from $1.04 to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. It would cost a family with a home valued at $250,000 about $115 more for the one year — for a total of $375.

Littlerock Fire Chief Russ Kaleiwahea said the district needs the levy to prevent layoffs and maintain staffing at its substations under construction in Maytown and Scott Lake. The levy also would help the district keep pace with inflationary costs of fuel, personnel, and other goods and services.

If the levy fails, "It'll mean that one, next year, we would likely lay off two apprentices that we have currently," he added.

At about 100 square miles, Littlerock's district has the largest geographic area of any in Thurston County. In 2007, Littlerock's average response time for about 1,500 calls was in excess of 9 minutes, short of its goal of 8 minutes, he said.

Funding also would help a proposed upgrade of the district's nontransport paramedic unit to a transport-capable unit. About 75 percent of the district's calls are for emergency medical responses, and that upgrade would help transport patients to hospitals more quickly, he said.

A proposition for a multiyear levy increase in the district failed by about 70 votes last November, Kaleiwahea said.

In 2001, Washington voters approved an initiative that limited annual increases in property taxes to 1 percent. Fire districts can levy a property tax up to a maximum of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. With the 1 percent limitation, the levy rate gradually shrinks as the assessed value in the district grows.

Grand Mound-Rochester

Voters in Grand Mound-Rochester Fire District 1 are being asked to raise their property taxes from 98 cents to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Fire Chief Robert Scott said the levy would help improve service for the entire district, and also fund staffing and renovations to a fire station on Albany Street so it could be manned 24 hours. The levy also would upgrade communications, provide safety upgrades for firefighters' breathing apparatus, and replace its aging "Jaws of Life" emergency equipment, Scott said.

The levy increase would cost about $130 a year more for a homeowner with property assessed at $250,000, Scott said.

Staffing upgrades to the Albany Street fire station would help reduce response times, which can mean potentially lower fire insurance costs for district homeowners, Scott said.

The levy increase also would help offset fuel increases.