CAMANO: Fire Board to discuss EMS levy renewal March 10
The Camano Island Fire & Rescue District posted this item in the news section of their website on Mar. 3, 2025.
The Camano Island Fire and Rescue (CIFR) Board of Fire Commissioners will meet at 4:30 p.m. Monday, March 10, at the Fire Administration Office (811 N. Sunrise Blvd.) to discuss placing an EMS levy renewal on the August 5, 2025, primary election ballot. The public is encouraged to attend and provide input.
Emergency medical services now account for 68% of all calls. Meanwhile, inflation has significantly increased costs for emergency personnel, equipment and apparatus.
“We want to be transparent with the community,” Fire Chief Jason Allen said. “Revenue is struggling to keep pace with the costs to provide service. Our priority is to ensure rapid, 24/7 medical response for the community, but we are stretched thin.”
CIFR funds daily operations through two property tax levies – one for fire and another for EMS. In 2021, voters approved a $0.50 EMS levy per $1,000 of assessed property value. However, “levy erosion” — a cap limiting revenue growth to 1% annually despite rising property values — has reduced the rate to $0.37. During the past four years, the Consumer Price Index has surged nearly 22%, while EMS-related costs have escalated.
To address these challenges, the Board of Fire Commissioners is considering asking voters to restore the EMS levy – which must be renewed every six years – to the previously approved rate of $0.50 in the August primary election.
If approved, the EMS renewal would fund additional emergency personnel and advanced training, and would replace an ambulance. It would also pay for life-saving medical equipment, including a new cardiac monitor/defibrillator and a LUCAS Device (for automated chest compressions) to improve patient survival rates.
The proposed $0.13 levy renewal would cost the owner of a $650,000 property (the median assessed value for the area, per the County Assessor) an additional $7.04 per month or $84.50 annually.
For more information, visit www.camanofire.com.
