Study: Regional Fire Authority Could Work for Wash. City

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A new independent organization with increased taxing authority would sustain current fire services in urban Yakima, according to a study on the merger of Yakima, Union Gap and two fire districts.

A consultant's report on what is known as a regional fire authority concludes the newly merged entity could mean an additional $2 million in revenue effective in 2013.

Yakima Fire Chief Dave Willson said the regional fire authority is an effort to maintain the status quo for fire service.

"I want the public to understand the whole idea of a regional fire authority is a way to maintain the same level of services they enjoy now," he said.

The report, released Friday, was completed by a Portland-area consulting firm and represents the first estimate of what a merged fire service would cost taxpayers.

The equation for the additional revenue is a lower base property tax -- $1 per $1,000 of assessed value -- than is currently allocated to the fire department. The new piece would add what is known as a "benefit service charge" on property.

Benefit charges can be based on something as simple as square footage. Others are more complex. Benefit charges are capped in state law at an amount equal to 60 percent of the base operating budget.

Some properties would pay less toward the regional authority, while others with larger structures would pay more, the consultant's report said.

The city of Yakima would have to reduce the amount it collects from property tax for overall city services by the $1 per $1,000 of assessed value that would go to the new fire authority.

The other funding plan, based on a annual property tax of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, would not be enough to support the new agency's ability to provide fire protection.

The funding options are established in state statute for support of regional fire authorities. Seven such authorities exist in the state of Washington, all in Western Washington.

The report said the effective property tax allocation for the fire department this year is $1.64 per $1,000 of assessed value.

A study group of fire department representatives, elected officials, business owners and citizens, reviewed the report for the first time Thursday. Willson initially declined to release the report Friday, saying the study group needed time to digest its results.

The Yakima Herald-Republic ultimately obtained a copy later Friday through a public records request expedited by the city.

Willson cautioned the study is still in its early stages and could take another year before a recommendation is submitted to a body of elected officials.

It will be up to those officials, forming what is known as a planning committee, to flesh out the authority's organizational structure and decide whether to submit the measure to a public vote.

Because the potential measure will include the benefit charge, a vote to create the authority would need a 60 percent supermajority for passage.

Willson said the goal is to provide adequate funding to support the existing fire service and money to replace equipment and maintain fire houses, something the fire department doesn't currently have.

Without it, Willson said, he would be forced to lay off firefighters and close stations within a few years.

"It would cost more because the regional fire authority is planned to succeed. The way we are heading now, we will not succeed," he said.

Willson said his current staffing of 77 firefighter positions is 37 firefighters short of the number a city the size of Yakima should have.

Union Gap Fire Chief Chris Jensen did not return telephone calls for comment Friday.

Yakima City Councilwoman Maureen Adkison, a member of the study group, did not return a call seeking comment.

The fire districts included in the review are the Fruitvale and Broadway districts that lack fire apparatus. Residents of the Fruitvale district are served by Union Gap while Yakima serves Broadway.

Currently, the Yakima Fire Department operates on an annual budget of $9.9 million. An additional $1.2 million comes in from the emergency medical services levy authorized by voters.

Union Gap's fire budget is $1.3 million this year.

The four departments combined have revenues this year of $12.2 million.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service