Statement For · Anne Isenhart
statement appears partly AICommittee: Anne Isenhart
Whatcom County fire district 1 covers 75 square miles, 12,700 residents, and averages 1,100 calls per year, with 10 full time paid employees, 3 part time paid employees, 8 active volunteers and 9 newly graduated volunteers. Approximately 800 of those calls are EMS calls. Fire and life safety services are funded through a fire levy, which is capped by state law at $1.50 per 1,000.00 of assessed property value. Washington law limits fire district revenue growth to 1% annually, even though inflation, emergency call volume, and service demands increase faster. In 2021, voters approved a levy lid lift that restored the levy rate to $1.40 per 1,000.00 to help maintain fire and emergency services. Since then, the levy rate has decreased and is currently $1.12 per 1,000.00. A levy lid lift is not a new tax. It restores or adjusts the existing fire district levy rate. WCFD 1 has done more with less for years and provided excellent care and services at the same time. Because emergency service costs continue to rise while levy rates gradually decrease over time, the fire district occasionally asks voters to reset the levy rate to help maintain emergency services, staffing, equipment and operational readiness.