Levy for south Lake Whatcom fire district up for renewal

PETER JENSEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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The levy that provides 30 percent of Whatcom County Fire District No. 18's annual operating budget is up for renewal in the Nov. 3 general election.

The district, which is located at the south end of Lake Whatcom, takes in about $70,000 annually from the levy, which funds training, pays for vehicle maintenance and for its part-time chief to be on call on weekdays. Money from the levy also goes to purchase needed medical supplies and equipment, Fire Chief Scott Crowe said.

The levy first passed six years ago at a rate of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, Crowe said.

Due to a reassessment of property values, the levy rate is now 28 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, Crowe said.

For a house assessed at $250,000, that would mean an annual tax of $70.

The district is asking its residents to vote to renew the levy in November, Crowe said.

"We know times are tight," Crowe said. "We're just renewing at the current rate."

The district consists of 16 volunteer firefighter/emergency medical technicians and pays Crowe a part-time wage to be on call weekdays, he said.

The levy helps pay to train new volunteers as well as for continuing education for current ones, Crowe said.

Maintenance for the district's ambulance, command vehicle and attack engine, which is also used as a rescue rig, is also partially paid for through the levy, Crowe said.

If the levy should fail, Crowe said his position would probably return to a volunteer one, which would likely increase response times and impair patient care.

Currently, Crowe is on call in the district five days a week during working hours, when the volunteers would be unavailable because of their jobs.

If there's no one available to respond to a medical aid call within six minutes, dispatchers would send the nearest available medic unit from Sudden Valley, Bellingham or the Acme Valley.

"Certainly daytime response would suffer," Crowe said.

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