PORT TOWNSEND — Voters within the city limit of Port Townsend will decide in August if they want to increase property taxes to support fire services.
The City Council on Monday night called an Aug. 17 special election for a lid levy lift to pay for fire services from East Jefferson Fire-Rescue.
Port Townsend is not part of the East Jefferson Fire-Rescue district. The city obtains fire and emergency medical services from the district through a services contract.
The Aug. 17 measure, if passed, would increase the city levy rate for fire services by 43 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
It would add an additional $190 annually in taxes for a house valued at $300,000, City Manager David Timmons said.
If it is passed, it will be reflected in 2011 tax bills.
The rate that Port Townsend now dedicates to fire services from its general levy is 57 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
The increase would bring the rate the city devotes to fire services to $1 per $1,000 of assessed value.
That would equal the rate voters approved April 27 in the unincorporated areas of the fire district for the district’s general fund.
In April, Port Townsend voters approved a levy lid lift for emergency medical services from the fire district which raised the rate to 50 cents per $1,000 assessed value from 28 cents per $1,000.
A general fund measure was not on the city ballot because the City Council wanted to consider other options.
The Aug. 17 levy question is a placeholder, intended to fund fire services until the city decides between the options of annexing the city into East Jefferson Fire-Rescue or creating a regional fire authority, Timmons said.
Either would require voter approval, but that approval will not have a financial impact if the upcoming levy is passed, the city manager said.
“This levy handles the financial component, so when we go to the voters again it will not cost them any more,” Timmons said.
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue Chief Gordon Pomeroy pushed ahead with the county fire levy measure in April because he said he “needed to find a way to fund these services and did not have confidence that I could do it any other way.”
Timmons said that he “wished the county had waited” but felt the city had now explored its options and was ready to support the levy.
The city has held three meetings about fire service options since the April levy vote, a town meeting at Fort Worden and two in the council chambers.
Pomeroy said Thursday he supports the city’s levy and will campaign on its behalf if he is asked to do so.
The city has said that its current contribution to fund fire services is $832,192.
The amount needed to maintain parity with the rest of the district is $1,455,136, and so the new revenue requirement is $622,944.
In April, county voters approved raising the district’s emergency medical services levy rate in the unincorporated areas to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value from 32 cents per $1,000.
They also approved raising the fire district’s regular tax levy for fire services in areas outside the Port Townsend city limit to $1 per $1,000 of assessed value from 56 cents per $1,000.
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Jefferson County reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.