Fire district wants voters to lift levy lid

Published 2:15 pm Monday, June 17, 2024

LONG BEACH PENINSULA — Ballots for August’s primary election are set to arrive in mailboxes in about a month. Many peninsula voters are being asked by their largest local fire district to lift its levy lid in a move that the agency’s chief said will allow them to hire additional firefighters and support a new staffed station in the fast-growing Surfside area.

Earlier this spring, the commissioners for Pacific County Fire District No. 1 passed a resolution to place a measure on the Aug. 6 ballot that would increase the fire district’s regular property tax levy from its current $0.85 to $1.15 per $1,000 of assessed value, with collections beginning in 2025. The measure must be approved by a simple majority of participating voters residing within the fire district, which consists of the peninsula minus Long Beach and Ilwaco.

In Washington, state law limits taxing districts from increasing the total property tax levy amount collected from current assessed valuation by more than 1% on an annual basis — known as the “levy lid.” But districts that are collecting less than their maximum statutory levy rate may ask voters to “lift” the total levy amount collected by more than 1%. The maximum levy rate for fire districts in the state is $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Pull Quote

‘This is about being more proactive than waiting until something happens.’

Jacob Brundage, PCFD1 fire chief

For a property valued at $400,000, the 30-cent increase being proposed by the fire district would cost that owner about $120 more annually — or $10 per month. PCFD1’s levy rate has gradually decreased in recent years, due to higher property valuations and new homes being constructed on the peninsula; in 2023, the levy rate was $0.96 per $1,000.

Adding to its ranks

The funds generated by increasing the levy rate, according to PCFD1 Fire Chief Jacob Brundage, would enable the fire district to hire four new firefighters-EMTs-paramedics and provide needed equipment and resources to support a third, 24/7 staffed fire station on the peninsula in Surfside. There are currently staffed stations in both Ocean Park and Seaview, and the fire district presently employs 20 full-time firefighters.

The fire district purchased a house in Surfside for just over $220,000 in 2007, directly adjacent to property that was transferred to the district from the Surfside Homeowners Association decades ago and now holds a three-bay, all-volunteer station. About $100,000 would be spent to modify those facilities to accommodate staffing it around-the-clock, including constructing a breezeway to connect the house and the station, which are located just feet apart.

The request comes after PCFD1’s call volume has increased by approximately 20% since 2018, and since that time the fire district has increased staffing by one additional firefighter per shift. But, Brundage said, the increased call volume, solid population growth and increased home building in recent years — particularly on the north end of the peninsula — have increased vulnerabilities in PCFD1’s ability to maintain response times and resiliency throughout the peninsula.

“What we found is that in Surfside there’s so much building going on, and we’re not really sure what’s going to happen up there,” said Brundage. “So what ends up happening is if all of a sudden people start living there, we’re behind the eight-ball almost immediately unless we’re more proactive.”

While Surfside and the north end of the peninsula would see the most direct benefits from the additional staffing and station if the levy lid-lift is approved, Brundage said those living in the south end of the district also stand to gain.

The number of concurrent district-wide calls PCFD1 has received in just the past couple of years has skyrocketed, meaning firefighters staffed at the Seaview station are often needed to respond to calls on the other end of the peninsula — leaving the south end of the district vulnerable. Having a fully staffed station in Surfside that is able to respond to calls on the north end would lower the frequency of having to pull crews and resources from Seaview.

“We’re trying to protect and control vulnerabilities and determine what is an acceptable risk. It’s not practical to have 20 firefighters on every shift; economically it doesn’t make sense,” said Brundage. “But one of the things I don’t want to do as a fire chief is, if I see this trend going and we’re increasingly creating vulnerabilities through population growth or housing density or some of these things like that, what does the community feel is an acceptable risk? And they’re looking for us to kind of help them figure that out as we’re balancing all those different things.”

Fire district brass will make their pitch to voters in the coming weeks, giving presentations to groups like the Ocean Park Area Chamber of Commerce, Peninsula Senior Activity Center and Surfside Homeowners Association. The Observer will have additional coverage of PCFD1’s ballot measure as the election nears.

“This is about being more proactive than waiting until something happens,” Brundage said.