Monroe Fire District 3 - Monroe Washington - Snohomish County

Pride in Community ~ Excellence in Service

June 19, 2013
~ Wednesday ~

— PROPOSITION 1 - MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS LEVY —

Proposition 1 - Maintenance & Operation Levy

What is the Purpose of the Maintenance & Operations Levy (M&O Levy)?

To maintain the current level of essential emergency services.

What Will the Maintenance & Operations Levy Cost Me?

Approximately $14.40 per month for the average home owner in Monroe.

What is the Impact if the Levy Fails . . .

Wagner Hill Fire Station 32 will be closed.
District residents will be billed for Emergency Medical Response transports.
Emergency response personnel will be cut by 39% (12 full time firefighters and 6 part time firefighters)
Special Operations programs will be terminated:
- Water / Flood Rescue
- Technical Rescue (building collapse, trench rescue, rope rescue)
- Hazardous Materials Response
A combination of these factors will increase our emergency response times throughout the district.

In 2009 the average home owner in Monroe paid $47.12 per month in property tax to Fire District #3
In 2013 the average home owner will pay $30.00 per month (without the levy).
With the M&O Levy, in 2013 the average home owner is projected to pay $44.40 per month in property tax to the Fire District #3 (which includes the $14.40 cost of the M&O Levy).
This is less per month than in 2009.

Property Taxes Collected by Fire District #3

2009
$6,876,350.50

2012
$5,328,231.84

2013*
$4,688,844.02

*Projected 12% decrease in assessed value, without the M&O levy. Source: (Snohomish County Assessor's 2012 Annual Report). The anticipated assessed value of an average home in Monroe for 2013 is $180,048. The projection is determined by reducing Snohomish County's 2012 figure of $204,600 by 12%, the anticipated decrease in assessed value for a house in Monroe, in the year 2013.

WHY IS THIS M&O LEVY NECESSARY?

WHAT HAS MONROE FIRE DONE TO MITIGATE
THE LOSSES TO ITS OPERATING BUDGET?

Snohomish County Fire District #3 has managed to date by budgeting
and making many adjustments to reduce expenses, including:

Community meetings to discuss the M&O Levy will be held at:

• 7:30 PM on July 11th, at the Tualco Grange #284,
18933 Tualco RD, Monroe, WA 98272

• 7 PM on July 12th, 2012 at the East County Senior Center,
276 Sky River Parkway, Monroe, WA 98272

An Overview of Monroe Fire District

Snohomish County Fire District #3 (Monroe Fire) serves a population of approximately 29,000 residents. The District provides 24-7 emergency medical service (EMS) response, fire protection, water rescue, technical rescue, hazardous materials containment, and education programs for all ages. Monroe Fire responds to over 3,000 calls per year (based on average call volume between 2009 and 2011), approximately 75% of which are EMS responses. All firefighters are Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and 18 are EMT/Paramedics.

To maintain the current level of essential emergency services
- Monroe Fire District #3 has been losing revenues from property taxes since 2010. This is due to the declining property values which has driven our fire and EMS levies to their statutory limit (Fire - $1.50 per $1000 of assessed value ("AV"), EMS - $.50 per $1000 of AV) causing the district to lose revenue. Without the levy the District will have to cut personnel and programs. If the levy is successful we will keep the same service level as we have today. We will not be increasing staffing or programs, simply maintaining the same service.

Approximately $14.40 per month for the average home owner in Monroe.
- The current assessed value (AV) of Fire District #3 is $2,659,078,991. If we lose (as expected) 12% of the 2012 value, our 2013 AV is anticipated to be $2,339,989,512. The 2013 assessed value divided by $1000 (rate is figured per $1000 of AV) is $2,339,989.51. The Department is asking for $2,250,000 each year for four years. To calculate the rate, one divides the amount to be collected ($2,250,000) by the rate per $1000 AV. This equates to $.96 per $1000. The average home value for the City of Monroe is anticipated to be $180,048 for 2013. $180,048/$1000 = $180.05 x $.96 = $172.85/12 months = $14.40 per month.

Wagner Hill Fire Station 32 will be closed.
- The staffing of the Wagner Hill fire station (Station 32) is dependent on our overall staffing level in the district. When staffing levels fall below 7 firefighters on duty per shift (which will routinely occur with staffing reductions), we are unable to staff the apparatus at both fire stations. The response area served by the headquarters fire station (Station 31) has a much higher call volume and therefore receives the highest priority for staffing. It is anticipated that response time to the Station 32 area would increase 3 to 8 minutes.

District residents will be billed for Emergency Medical Response transports.
- Currently Monroe Fire District #3 does not bill the residents that live within the boundaries of the District for fires, emergency medical calls and transports. For medical transports, the patient's insurance (Medicare, private, etc.) is billed and the unpaid portion is written off. Without the revenue from the levy the District will have to charge our residents for what insurance does not cover on EMS transports.

Emergency response personnel will be cut by 39% (12 full time firefighters and 6 part time firefighters)
- The loss of 18 firefighter positions will represent a loss of 5 firefighters on duty every day. This will naturally have a detrimental impact on our emergency response ability.

Special Operations programs will be terminated:
» Water/Flood Rescue.
» Technical Rescue (building collapse, trench rescue, rope rescue)
» Hazardous Materials Response.
- Special operations will be terminated as a cost savings measure to avoid having to eliminate even more firefighter positions. While these programs provide a vital service to the community, with limited funding, we must prioritize in order to be able to continue the core services we are required to provide.

A combination of these factors will increase our emergency response times throughout the district.
- With 5 fewer firefighters per shift, our ability to respond to incidents will be decreased. An average residential fire response requires at least 13 firefighters. With the staffing reductions, our average staffing level per shift will be half of that, causing us to wait for neighboring fire agencies to respond to assist. These neighboring fire apparatus take between 10 to 20 minutes to arrive. This delay can place our firefighters at risk and cause additional risk to our citizens' life and property. It is also very common for us to receive 2 or 3 incident dispatches at the same time. With the reduced staffing levels, our ability to respond to multiple simultaneous incidents will be reduced. With the necessary closure of fire station 32, our response times to the north section of our fire district will naturally increase. This station also is our only fire station on the north side of the railroad tracks which helps us respond north of the railroad tracks when the crossings are blocked by trains.

In 2009 the average home owner in Monroe paid $47.12 per month in property tax to Fire District #3

80% of Monroe Fire's operating budget comes from property taxes.

Property values have decreased over the past four years.

Between 2009 and 2012, Monroe Fire has lost $1.54 million of its operating budget.

The projected loss for 2013* is $639,388, which would be a total loss of $2.19 million between 2009-2013.
- Monroe Fire District #3 is anticipating another 12% decrease in assessed values for our fire district. This equates to losing another $636,388 in property taxes.

We have simply run out of adequate funding to continue to provide emergency services at current levels.
- Monroe Fire District #3 has cut discretionary spending. The only cuts left to make are to personnel and service. Our expenses are approximately $750,000 more that our revenues for 2012.

Made budget cuts across the board (in areas not related to emergency response)
- Temporary content to display.

All employees voluntarily waived their contractually guaranteed wage increase for the past two years
- Every employee at the District waived their Cost of Living increases for 2011 and 2012. The COLA for 2011 would have been 2.5% and 2012 would have been 3.2%.

Delayed the purchase of needed replacement equipment
- We have delayed replacing fire apparatus, medic units, and other response vehicles. While we will need to inevitably replace several old and worn apparatus soon, we have delayed these purchases to save as much money as we can. Other important equipment replacement such as heart monitors and firefighting equipment have also been delayed.

Cancelled all capital projects.
- We have cancelled capital improvement projects including plans to acquire property and build additional fire stations to improve response times as well as new equipment and facilities maintenance items such as replacement carpet and parking lot repairs.

Applied for and received grants totaling over $2.6 million in the past ten years
- Since 2003, Monroe Fire has received 10 federal Assistance to Firefighters grants totaling over 2.8 million dollars for the purchase of equipment and hiring personnel. The grants include;
  - 2003 AFG, $232, 741, Allowed for the replacement of SCBA breathing equipment and air compressor.
  - 2004 AFG, $210,926. Provided funding for the replacement of all of the departments vehicle and portable radios and the purchase of computers for vehicle mobile dispatch equipment.
  - 2004 Fire Prevention Grant, $130,920. This grant allowed for the implementation of risk watch in our community schools and provides temporary funding for a public fire educator position.
  - 2007 AFG, $157,109. Provided funding for us to replace our Firefighting Personal Protective Clothing and 2 Thermal Imaging Cameras.
  - 2007 Regional AFG, $230,400. This grant provided funding for 120 Portable radios to improve firefighter safety and interoperability for 9 Fire Districts throughout Snohomish County.
  - 2007 SAFER, $1,347,237. This grant provides funding for 6 additional Firefighters. This grant provided a 5 year declining reimbursement for the hiring with reimbursements ending in 2012.
  - 2008 AFG, $234,400. This grant provided funding for the replacement of our Water Tender (Tanker) Apparatus.
  - 2008 AFG, $103,500. This grant provided funding to retro-fit both fire stations with vehicle exhaust evacuation systems.
  - 2008 Regional AFG, $67,000. This grant provided funding to purchase the Last Chance SCBA escape filter for all 8 Fire Districts in Snohomish County Zone-11.
  - 2009 AFG, $36,000. This grant provided funding to purchase and install an emergency generator system at our fire station on Wagner Road.
  - 2009 Fire Prevention Grant, $130,920. This award provided a mobile interactive training center and a Spanish educator for our firefighters and community.

Have not filled the open position for Public Information Officer / Public Educator.
- Our community has enjoyed the benefits of a Fire Department Public Educator since 2005. This employee was responsible for planning, coordinating, and delivering fire- and injury-prevention programs in our schools and community, as well as serve as Public Information Officer for the district. However, due to medical illness, our educator resigned in 2010. Financial forecast models were illustrating this financial crisis and so we did not replace the Public Educator position.

With the M&O Levy, in 2013 the average home owner is projected to pay $44.40 per month in property tax to Fire District #3 (which includes the $14.40 cost of the M&O Levy). This is less per month than in 2009.
- The average homeowner in the City of Monroe paid the following taxes (annually) to Fire District #3:
  
  • 2009 = $565.53
  • 2013 = $533.00