Snoqualmie tax increase proposed to hire new police, firefighters

Published 1:15 pm Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Snoqualmie is asking its voters to approve a tax increase beyond the 1 percent limit, effective next year for police and fire services.

The proposal, for an additional estimated 23 cents per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value, was unanimously approved by Snoqualmie City Council July 25, to appear on the November ballot. To take effect, the lid lift must be approved by a 60 percent majority.

This is the second proposed lid lift for Snoqualmie’s emergency services in recent years. Mayor Matt Larson noted that the city’s 2012 levy was implemented to address the city’s explosive growth since 2000, and the deficient police and fire staff levels that resulted.

“The fire department added only two positions in the last 15 years,” Larson said, and in the police department, “we’ve had the same number of commissioned officers since 2007.”

That lid lift, along with an emergency transport fee, allowed the city to add two firefighters and one police officer.

Today, a similar shortage exists, says Larson. The police department is currently short several officers who are on various leave types, including military service and administrative leave.

The fire department has three three-person shifts, which include paid and volunteer staff, “but the call volume has increased 44 percent,” said Larson. Expanding the firefighting staff will “ensure that we at least have a minimum of three (on a shift) and then it gives us the ability to respond to multiple calls at the same time.”

Funds from the current proposed lid lift, if approved, would be used to hire an additional firefighter and two additional police officers. The cost impact is projected to be about $10 more per month on a home valued at $530,000, the average price in Snoqualmie.

Larson noted that the city has considered other possible funding sources, including a sales tax, but that option would not have generated the needed revenue.

Also, he said, the choice is the voters’. They will need to decide whether they want to pay for their continued levels of service from police and fire agencies, or if they can accept reductions in those services.

The city of Snoqualmie has prepared an informational website on the proposed lid lift, available at bit.ly/COSLevy2016.