The ballot measure seeks voter approval to increase the city’s regular property tax levy by $0.50 per $1,000 of assessed value
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver City Council unanimously approved a resolution Monday (Dec. 6) to request voter approval of a property tax increase to fund fire and emergency services, equipment and facilities. The levy will be on the Feb. 8, 2022, special election ballot.
The ballot measure seeks voter approval to increase the city’s regular property tax levy by $0.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. If passed, an owner of a $440,000 house would pay $18.33 per month to support this initiative beginning in 2023.
If approved by voters, the funding from the levy, which is projected to generate approximately $15 million per year, would be used to meet the increasing demand for emergency service calls due to the continuing growth of the City of Vancouver. It would also be used to address seismic and other capital repair and replacement needs of the city’s fire stations.
The Vancouver Fire Department (VFD) has not met the city’s adopted standard for response times related to priority 1 and 2 emergency medical calls and full alarm structure fires since 2016. There are three contributing factors to this service level gap, which increases community risk:
- Increased population, call volume and frequency of calls requiring a full alarm assignment
- Increased transportation congestion on the city’s street system, slowing response time
- Change in call type and location that influenced the geography of call demand
Closing the identified service gaps requires focusing on the expansion of geographic coverage and increasing station reliability. If approved, this levy would fund fire and emergency medical services and facilities needed to meet the adopted standard for response times, including the following:
- Add 5.0 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) fire captains, 11.0 fire medics, 24.0 firefighters and 3.0 support staff, to staff one new and two existing paramedic squad apparatus and one new ladder truck on a 24/7 shift schedule
- Acquire one new squad apparatus and one ladder truck
- Fund 4.0 captains and 9.0 firefighters staffing Fire Station 11 on a permanent basis beginning in 2025, consistent with the interlocal agreement with Fire District 5.
- Replace Fire Stations 3 and 6
- Seismically improve, expand and/or renovate existing Fire Stations 4, 5 and 8
- Fund other necessary administrative costs in other departments to support investments outlined above
- Fund additional operating, maintenance, vehicle and capital expenses to provide enhanced fire and emergency services as determined by the city council
The ballot proposition will be submitted to the Clark County Auditor by Dec. 10 to prepare it for the February election. See the full resolution here.
If the ballot measure is passed by voters, the city council will determine the timing, order and manner of funding the fire and emergency services.
Information provided by city of Vancouver.
