At a special meeting, the East Pierce Fire and Rescue Fire Commissioners voted to place a Maintenance and Operation Levy on the August 7 ballot. District voters will be asked to approve a two-year levy in the amount of $3 million for 2013 and $3.2 million in 2014.

“This election is about giving the voters of our fire district an opportunity to maintain their current level of Fire and Emergency Medical Services,” said East Pierce Fire Commissioner Chair Rick Kuss.

The fire district is currently funded at a rate of $1.50 per thousand of assessed value for fire services and 50 cents per thousand of assessed value for EMS services. As property values have fallen, so have the revenues collected by the fire district. “The majority of our revenue comes from property taxes. But due to the current economic downturn, our district has lost over 20% of our revenue since 2009, which amounts to over $2.2 million. Meanwhile the cost of fuel, medical supplies and other hard costs have risen,” Kuss said.

The district has already made significant cuts to operating expenses, including reducing overtime by 48 percent over the past four years. Public education programs, prevention and logistics have been cut significantly. Firefighter training has been slashed by nearly 30 percent. Vacant positions have not been filled and employees have taken pay cuts and furlough days.

“Despite these cuts, the district has had to dip into emergency reserves for the past two years,” said East Pierce Fire Chief Jerry E. Thorson. “We anticipate another seven percent reduction in revenues for 2013 and five percent in 2014. There is nothing left to cut without affecting service levels.”

East Pierce Fire and Rescue provides fire and emergency medical response to approximately 83,000 residents living in Bonney Lake, Sumner, Edgewood, Milton, South Prairie, Wilkeson, the Ridge Communities and the area around Lake Tapps—a 152-square-mile area.

In 2011, East Pierce firefighters responded to 8,362 total emergency calls. Of those, 6,163 were emergency medical services-related incidents, an increase of 9 percent over 2010.

Thorson said that the Maintenance and Operation Levy would cost the owner of a $250,000 home approximately $95.00 in 2013, or $7.92 per month. “What it would provide to the fire department would be invaluable,” he said. “In addition to maintaining the same level of quality service and staffing, we would be able to restore much needed training and maintain equipment, vehicles and stations,” he said. “We certainly need every bit of it.”