Officials say this fire district’s ambulance service is worth the taxes. Voters to decide

Voters are getting another chance to decide the future of a Franklin County ambulance service that officials say is cheaper than the alternative..

Franklin County Fire District 3 has on November’s ballot a measure that would make permanent a 9-cent levy increase that pays for the ambulance service.

Fire officials say the biggest selling point is it won’t cost you any more in taxes than what you pay now.

The 2013 measure let the fire district to boost what charged taxpayers from about $1.18 to $1.27 per $1,000 of assessed value, Franklin County Fire District 3 Chief Mike Harris said.

The increase helped pay for the district’s ambulance service after starting it in 2013.

Harris said that if voters reject the measure, the rate would slide back to $1.11 per $1,000 of assessed value, saving a property owner about $32 a year for a $200,000 home.

The 205-square-mile district includes the Riverview area of Pasco, along with most of southern Franklin County. It serves as many as 7,186 people during harvest season.

And it’s growing, Harris said.

More than half of the 506 calls the fire district went to last year were for medical issues. That portion has consistently gone up each year since the ambulance service was created.

With a new 68-bed assisted living facility opening in the district soon, Harris said that number is only expected to go up.

“That alone will increase our calls by one call per bed per year,” he said.

The fire district came up with the idea after the City of Pasco planned to increase the price it charged the district for its service from $30,000 in 2012 to $180,000 for 2014.

At the time, officials said they couldn’t afford it.

The 2013 measure asked voters to remove a 1 percent cap on their property tax increases, Harris said.

The measure passed with nearly two-thirds of the voters, and brought in about $285,000 last year.

It annually pays for most of the $330,000 cost to crew the ambulances.

The money also let the district to buy two new four-wheel drive ambulances so medics can get to remote areas of the county, such as the Juniper Dunes all-terrain vehicle area.

Harris said their service is a cheaper option than Pasco’s.

Rides in a Franklin Fire District 3 ambulance cost two-thirds of what they cost in Pasco ambulances, he said.

If November’s measure fails and the tax rate drops, the district will have to decide whether to keep its ambulance service or go back to Pasco, Harris said.

It’s not a choice that District Commissioner Glen Clifford said he wants to make. Their service reaches patients faster and for less money that it would take Pasco or American Medical Response ambulances.

“It is very important and is well utilized,” he said. “It’s pretty rare to be able to maintain the same rate and maintain the level of care. It’s a very good system and we’re really happy with it.”

The measure is being opposed by a group of Franklin County residents, with local government watchdog Roger Lenk penning the opposition statement.