Franklin voters said ‘yes’ to ambulance service 5 years ago. It’s time to make it permanent

With the Tri-City area population booming, now is not the time to cut back on emergency services.

We recommend voters living within Franklin County Fire District 3 approve Proposition No. 1, which would maintain the ambulance service approved five years ago.

In 2013 residents agreed the fire district should quit relying on the city of Pasco for ambulance services and provide its own. They voted to approve temporarily lifting the levy lid to give the fire district the ability to raise more revenue, and now taxpayers are paying $1.27 per $1,000 of assessed value to make that happen.

Now that levy increase is set to expire, and fire district officials are asking people to make it permanent.

This is a reasonable request, especially when you consider that more than half of the calls to the fire district last year were for medical emergencies.

Franklin County Fire District 3 Chief Mike Harris said if voters don’t approve the levy request, the rate will slide back to $1.11 per $1,000 of assessed value, which would save property owners about $32 a year on a $200,000 home.

But it also will mean that fire district officials will lose about $238,000 a year – based on estimates using 2018 projected assessed value – so the fire district would have to find a way to operate with significantly less.

Harris said budgets for training and equipment likely would take the biggest hits. We are also concerned about the long-term consequences of forcing a fire district to continually do more with less. Eventually, the level of service cannot be maintained.

The fire district covers about 205 square miles of land that runs from the Columbia River shoreline on the west all the way to Star School on the Pasco-Kahlotus Highway on the east, and from the city of Pasco’s border on the south to Sagemoor Road on the north.

It also covers the donut holes in the city – rural areas that are within Pasco’s boundaries but are not annexed to receive city services.

Harris said Fire District 3 protects over 7,000 people, and that number is expected to grow as more houses are built in the community.

Critics of the levy request say the taxes raised for the ambulance service are too much and unnecessary, and that the fire district’s reserve fund is growing to an excessive amount.

Harris and other officials in the county question the numbers touted by critics, and said that the district is trying to save for a shelter where emergency vehicles can be serviced.

Voters also should consider that an ambulance trip for residents who live in Franklin County Fire District 3 is less expensive than if they end up riding in an ambulance provided by the City of Pasco. It’s about one-third less, Harris said.

Expecting emergency services to operate with less money when more people are moving in to the county is unwise.

The Tri-City Herald recommends voters approve the Franklin County Fire District No. 3 levy request, Proposition No. 1.

Advisory Vote No. 19

Whatever the outcome of Advisory Vote No. 19, it will likely be ignored by the Legislature.

That’s because advisory votes are non-binding. Thanks to an initiative approved by voters in 2007, the Legislature is required to submit to the people bills it approved that close tax loopholes and generate revenue.

But lawmakers don’t have to act on the results.

Earlier this spring the Legislature approved ESB 6269, which applies a tax on crude oil and petroleum products that come to the state by pipeline. There already are taxes on oil that arrives by ship and by rail. Adding “pipeline” to the law is expected to bring in an additional $13 million over the next 10 years.

It never hurts to let lawmakers know what you think, even if it is on a non-binding measure.

The Tri-City Herald recommends voters choose Maintained on Advisory Vote No. 19.

This story was originally published October 24, 2018 at 4:25 PM.