Voters pass Fire District 7 levy lid lift

Primary election voters passed a measure to restore the levy lid by about 60 percent for the recently merged Fire District 7.

The approval will bounce the cap back to $1.50. A homeowner living in the Monroe area, formerly Fire District 3, will pay $20 more in taxes in 2018 based on a $400,000 home. Those living in what was formerly Fire District 7 will pay $56.

“We are very happy that we have our voters’ support to continue to do the work that we are doing,” said fire district spokesperson Heather Chadwick.

She said the levy, along with the EMS lid lift voters approved last year, are the agency’s only two funding sources. Resulting revenue will go toward funding daily operations. That includes equipment purchases, building construction, staff training and certification, she said.

Aside from levies, fire districts are limited to collecting no higher than 1 percent more in property tax revenue than the previous year. The bump is not automatic; the board of commissioners has to agree annually to take the increase. Voters have to approve anything higher.

This year’s Fire District 3 levy lid was at roughly $1.45 per $1,000 of assessed property value, and Fire District 7’s had dropped to about $1.36 per $1,000.

“Fire Chief Gary Meek says that the district has worked hard to manage costs and improve efficiencies for taxpayers. However, the demand for emergency services often outpaces the revenue received to provide it,” according to a Fire District 7 news release.

The fire district’s call volumes have risen 5.8 percent on average in the past six years. Numbers were up in both districts 3 and 7. That was prior to last year’s merger, which voters passed by about 81 percent in the last primary election.

“In 2016 emergency personnel responded to over 10,790 emergency calls, 20 percent of which were fire related,” according to the release.

Fire District 7 has eight stations, two of which are in Monroe. Emergency responders cover 98.5 square miles, providing services to 110,000 residents in Monroe, Maltby, Clearview, Mill Creek and other surrounding communities.

About 8,750 of those residents also cast their vote to determine who among the three candidates for the Board of Fire Commissioners Position 3 will go on to the general election in November.

Randy Fay took nearly 58 percent of votes cast as of press time. He currently holds Position 4 on the board. It appears Rick Edwards will be joining him with nearly 29 percent of the votes, while Nancy Travis was knocked out of the race with only about 11 percent.

Snohomish County Elections manager Garth Fell said the election results will not be made official until Aug. 15. However, both the levy and the commissioner position have enough of a margin that the outcomes are unlikely to change significantly.