Fire chief Jim Schneider doesn’t expect to get as much sleep as normal over the next few months – not until he knows what voters decide about extending a fire benefit fee.
Voters in Kent, Covington and Fire District 37 will decide on the April 26 ballot (Proposition No. 1) whether the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority can continue for another six years its fire benefit charge against property owners to help pay for fire services. The fee is a variable rate based on the square footage and the amount of resources needed to provide emergency services to each house or business.
“This is a huge vote for us,” Schneider said during an interview Tuesday at fire headquarters along 116th Avenue Southeast. “We have to get the fire benefit charge vote through. We don’t take anything for granted. Until 8 or 8:15 at night on April 26, I will be sleeping a few less hours every night.”
Voters in 2010 approved the formation of the Regional Fire Authority (RFA) with 72 percent in favor of funding the agency through a property tax levy and a new fire benefit charge. Previously, Kent funded its fire department through the general fund. Covington and Fire District 37 contracted with Kent for services.
Just as in 2010, a 60 percent approval vote will be needed to pass the April measure. The RFA also serves the city of SeaTac, but that city contracts at about $9 million a year with the RFA for services so residents there will not vote on the proposition.
The property tax levy of $1 per $1,000 assessed valuation covers the majority of the RFA’s operating budget. The fire benefit charge in 2016 will cover 46 percent of the budget. By state law, a fire benefit charge cannot exceed 60 percent of the operating budget.
“We have never gone above 48 percent, this year it’s 46 percent,” Schneider said about the fee. “We would never approach the top amount. One, that’s not what we told the citizens and two, we are trying to be thrifty and reduce costs.”
The renewal of the fee would allow the RFA to continue its current service levels as well as help pay for equipment and facilities.
Leroy Stevenson, of Covington, who opposed the formation of the RFA six years ago, told the Kent City Council during its public comment period on Jan. 19 that it shouldn’t support renewal of the fee.
“We are only four months away from an election to vote to reinstate the fire benefit charge, which I contend that very few people can understand,” Stevenson said. “Certainly an individual homeowner cannot decipher it. It’s not applied fairly and not a tax anyone can understand and it’s not a limited tax. The RFA said they needed a reliable income source, well I say taxpayers need a consistent tax amount so they can know what their tax is going to be.
“I don’t know of any other institution where you can raise your budget and adjust the fees you charge to meet your budget. That’s not fair.”
City Councilman Les Thomas told Stevenson that the fee actually went down this year for residents. Thomas supports the fee.
“It’s fair because it’s all based on risk and other assumptions,” Thomas said. “It’s amazing how much work goes through (to determine the cost of) each parcel. It’s done on a very equitable basis.”
Schneider explained that fees are set based on what it would take to put out a fire.
“If we come to your house, it would take two engines, a ladder truck and a battalion chief, so you pay for that, and it’s all worked out,” Schneider said. “If we go to a commercial building that takes four engines, a ladder truck, a haz mat team and a battalion chief, you pay for that.”
Schneider said the property tax rate can only go up 1 percent each year under state law, so the RFA adjusts its fire benefit charge to cover the differences in the budget.
If the voters turn down the fire benefit fee extension, the RFA would lose about $10 million in revenue and need to cut about 75 firefighters and staff, Schneider said.
The RFA is setting aside funds to build a new fire station, although no site has been selected or timeline determined. A new city fire impact fee on developers will help pay for a station. But Schneider said the RFA also must figure out how to pay for 15 firefighters to staff a new station.
The RFA is overseen by a board that includes three Kent City Council members, three Fire District 37 commissioners, and one non-voting advisory board member from the cities of Covington and SeaTac.
For more information, go to kentfirerfa.org.
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