<< Previous   of   Next >>

ADVERTISEMENT

CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

FD 7 proposes tax levy increase

By Katie Murdoch
Enterprise editor

MILL CREEK — If a proposed EMS levy is approved, Mill Creek taxpayers could be charged 50 cents per $1,000 assessed value, or a 178 percent increase from the current levy of 18 cents per $1,000 assessed value.

The owner of a $350,000 house is currently charged $63 per year. If the increase is approved, the homeowner would be charged $175, a difference of $112.

Fire District 7 is proposing an EMS levy increase to pay for eight additional staff at Station 76, 1020 152nd Place SE, Mill Creek. The fire district predicts the additional staff will cost an extra $1.1 million per year.

The levy is scheduled to go on the August primary election ballot, pending an endorsement from the City Council.

“It gives people a say in the level of service they want,” Fire Chief Rick Eastman said.

The current six-year EMS levy expires this year.

Eastman wants to assign four personnel on an engine and two on a medic unit. Currently, three personnel are assigned to cross-man one engine and one medic unit, which Eastman said operates at 38 percent efficiency.

Eastman said the initial ground tasks at a fire overwhelm a three-person crew. If the hose kinked while two firefighters are performing search and rescue, for example, the risks to firefighters’ lives would be even higher.

“They’re in a gunfight without bullets,” he said.

Eastman said current staffing prevented Station 76 personnel from being available for 18 percent of dispatched EMS alarms and 24 percent of dispatched fire alarms. The station had to rely on neighboring fire stations to pick up the slack.

Eastman said the increase would meet a National Fire Protection Association Standard that calls for the first engine company to consist of four firefighters arriving to an emergency within four minutes of a 911 call.

“It’s a safety issue — not a jobs issue,” he said.