PORT TOWNSEND — An interlocal agreement between the City Council and East Jefferson Fire-Rescue could be approved within two weeks, setting the stage for a November public vote on annexing the city into the fire district.
The Port Townsend City Council on Monday voted 6-0, with Mayor Michelle Sandoval absent, to move forward with an interlocal agreement between the taxing authorities that, if voters approve, would annex the city into the district and create tax parity between the two jurisdictions.
Council members set June 20 as the date they plan to formally vote on the agreement.
On June 21, fire district commissioners meet and also could approve the document if the city has given final approval.
Once approved by the two agencies, a measure for annexation could go before voters on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
Voters in Port Townsend would need to approve annexation, which would entail restructuring the tax load, Port Townsend City Manager David Timmons told the council.
Councilwoman Kris Nelson said she wanted assurance the annexation wouldn’t mean closure of the Lawrence Street fire hall.
“I can’t imagine in the next 20 years that the uptown fire station wouldn’t be used as a fire station,” Chief Gordon Pomeroy told the council.
If voters approved annexation, the current three-member fire district board would be expanded to five members.
Two city residents would be appointed to the board until a special election could be held for the two additional commission seats.
Port Townsend residents get fire service from East Jefferson Fire-Rescue — Jefferson County Fire District 1 — at 43 cents less per $1,000 of assessed tax valuation than residents in the unincorporated areas of East Jefferson County pay.
Yet 65 percent to 70 percent of the increasing calls for service emanate from within the city limit, Pomeroy said.
The disparity has been there since last year, when county residents approved a measure raising the amount they pay for $1,000 of property valuation to $1 while city residents defeated a measure that would have added 43 cents to the fire service tax bill.
The result is that Port Townsend residents get the same level of service as county residents for 43 cents less per tax levy valuation — which over time means that county residents end up subsidizing the city, both the fire chief and city manager said Monday.
The bumpy road to this point could mean fewer bumpy roads in Port Townsend if voters agree to a new fire tax levy, probably in November, according to officials.
Timmons said resolving the fire district question could mean Port Townsend would have money to fix roads.
At $1 million per one mile of road for 83 miles in city limits, that daunting challenge could go on for miles.
But voters balked at a proposal in August that would have addressed the parity issue between the city and fire district.
By a vote of 1,970 ayes to 1,626 nays — 55 percent to 45 percent — the measure went down in flames.
“It’s a simple matter of getting the citizenry under the same tax umbrella,” said Pomeroy.
He said the disparity has meant the fire district has had to dip into its reserves at an increasing rate in order to maintain the levels of service expected by residents, no matter where they live.
The two areas have been served by the fire district for the past 4½ years following approval of an agreement that went into effect Jan. 1, 2007.
Training, personnel, administration — even the old fire hall on Lawrence Street — are under the control and ownership of the fire district.
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Philip L. Watness is a freelance writer and photographer living in Port Townsend. He can be reached at whatnews@olypen.com.