Editorial: Curious that council not interested in fire levy

As a courtesy, the Spokane Valley Fire Department informs officials of the cities within the 75-square-mile district of its intentions to submit a three-year maintenance and operations levy to voters. No action is required, no endorsement sought.

Chief Mike Thompson will meet with the city of Millwood on July 10, and Liberty Lake on July 17. But he will not be making a presentation to the Spokane Valley City Council. They apparently do not want to hear it.

Curious, because members have in the past, in 2006 and 2009, when district voters endorsed the levy with majorities of 72 percent and 69 percent, respectively.

The council gave an audience to the Public Facilities District last year when it was seeking an extension of sales and room taxes that will expand the Convention Center and add seats in Veterans Memorial Arena. The Spokane County Library District got a hearing on a strategic plan that calls for a levy election – in 2015.

But Thompson says he was told the council does not want to hear about a tax. Mayor Tom Towey says if the council allows the fire district to make a report, foes must be given the same access. Not that there has been any organized opposition to the latest two levies.

The M&O levy – $1.70 per $1,000 assessment – raises $16.4 million and covers 56 percent of the fire district’s $30 million budget. A separate, regular levy that does not go to the voters provides most of the other funding. The M&O is not a new tax. Voters will simply be renewing a levy, much as school district voters must do with supplemental levies.

The budget keeps 10 fire stations open, and 180 firefighters, support staff and administrators on the job. Over the past 10 years, calls have increased 47 percent. So far in 2012, calls are up 6.7 percent.

The district would have to close six stations and lay off 100 employees on Jan. 1 should the levy fail. District officials are so concerned the measure might not pass in the Aug. 7 primary that they have already put it on the November general election ballot. It can be withdrawn if the levy does indeed pass in August.

Given the overwhelming majorities the levy has won in the past, Thompson’s anxiety regarding a possible failure may seem a little over the top. But the previous votes were taken in happier economic times, and levies put on the ballot last November by several other fire districts failed.

The best publicity the Valley district has going for it are the horrendous fires in Colorado and elsewhere in the West that have charred whole neighborhoods. They are a reminder of similar destructive blazes in the Valley’s Ponderosa neighborhood.

Against that backdrop, the Spokane Valley City Council should be eager to hear from its firefighting corps. And if members do not like taxes, they are in a better position than anybody else to ask tough questions about what residents are paying for.

They should reconsider their decision to shut out the fire district. As a courtesy.