“The fact is, if the levy fails, we lose all EMS (Emergency Medical Service) funding,” said Eric Andrews, assistant fire chief for Snohomish County Fire District 7.
Fire District 7 serves about 60,000 people in an area north and east of the northern end of the city of Bothell, including persons in Bothell’s potential annexation area between Bothell and Mill Creek.
In August, the district asked its residents to replace a $1.7 million property tax levy that expires at the end of this year. Despite the fact that District 7 was asking to double the tax rate it receives for EMS, voters generally were positive. However, they were not quite positive enough.
Final numbers show the levy won 58.8 percent of the votes cast. Under state law, the issue needed a 60 percent approval rate to win passage. The issue also had to attract a minimum of 5,560 total votes, which it did easily.
“We just hope we get the message out this time,” Andrews said.
“We’re trying to get the word, that’s for sure,” echoed Troy Smith, a district paramedic and lieutenant who is also president of the district firefighters’ union. Andrews the district is highly limited in what it can legally do to promote the levy. Essentially, they can send out a flyer to voters and that’s about it. With that in mind, Smith and the union are trying to pick up the slack.
“We believe if people realize what is at risk with the levy, people will vote for it,” said Smith, who added his membership had agreed to a 3-percent, voluntary pay cut regardless of whether or not the EMS levy ultimately passes.
Both Smith and Andrews several times contended the levy is Fire District 7’s only source of funding for EMS. Smith said a lot of people think if the levy goes away, some other revenue source — say, the county or the state — will pick up the slack.
“That’s just not the case,” Smith stated. Except for insurance reimbursements for ambulance transports, he said the only funding source is local property taxes.
Smith added District 7 routinely waves insurance co-pays for ambulance transports and does not turn those who cannot pay over to collection services.
As a possible sign of things to come should the levy fail again, Andrews said that following the August vote, the district board of directors voted to suspend all EMS operations. They later reversed themselves, but still plan what Andrews termed serious service reductions if the levy fails again.
For example, the number of ambulance units would be reduced from four to one or, at most, two.
Andrews said the board’s initial action eliminated all paramedics from District 7. Lesser-trained EMT’s would have handled medical emergencies using fire vehicles, with private ambulance firms handling patient transport.
Andrews noted there are distinct differences between paramedics and EMTs. For example, the latter cannot administer drugs or start an IV at the site of an emergency. He implied that even if District 7 does not completely eliminate EMS operations, if units are reduced, EMTs and not medics will be responding to more and more emergency runs. He had previously noted EMS operations make up about 77 percent of District 7’s emergency calls.
The current District 7 levy brings in 25 cents per $1,000 in property valuation. The new levy would bring in 50 cents per $1,000 in property values. The 50 cent figure is the maximum allowed by law.
Prior to the August vote, Andrews maintained the district is one of the few in Washington not already collecting that maximum. He added a number of factors prompted district officials to ask for an increase in funding, those factors including drops in local property values which led to drops in district tax collections. Andrews said revenues dipped $1.3 million last year, with another plunge of over $1 million predicted for 2010.
The district also asked voters to eliminate the levy’s expiration date. In the past, EMS levies needed to be renewed every six years. State law now allows for districts to make levies permanent with voter approval. Andrews said a permanent levy means far less of a chance of losing service because of the loss of a levy.
Smith and Andrews said the district likely will go back to voters until the issue passes. But Andrews said while service will remain the same through the end of the year, if the coming vote fails, cuts will go into effect in January when the current levy expires. He added funds from any levy passed in 2011 wouldn’t be available until 2012.
