Below you will find some clarification on the facts of our upcoming fire district levy. We hope this clears things up for you as voting day approaches. Please forward this information to any of your neighbors and friends who are registered voters in our area.

Bob Adamson, for Friends of Lake Wenatchee Fire and Rescue

Washington State law for funding junior taxing districts only allows the districts to increase their budgets by 1 percent per year unless voters approve increasing the levy rate.

As property assessments increase, the levy rates for junior taxing districts are decreased to stay within the 1 % limit.  LWFR is a junior taxing district.

In February 2020, the voters approved refreshing the levy rate back to $ 0.82  per $1000 of assessed value.  That rate took effect in January of 2021.  Thus, in just 3 years our levy rate has decreased to 0.58 per 1000.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, average annual inflation in 2021, 2022, and 2023 has been 7, 6.5, and 3.4 %.  That is an overall average of 5.6 % inflation per year. Since LWFR has only been able to increase the budget by 3 % during that time, we have lost 13.9 % in ‘buying power’ due to inflation.

We have been fortunate to supplement our funds with grants to help cover the shortfalls, but grants cannot be guaranteed in the future and some are limited in duration.

Due to continued increases in the demand for our services, we have been forced to expand.  In 2021 we had 4 fire stations and 24 volunteers; today we have 5 fire stations and 50 volunteers.

Due to increasing call volumes, we started a transition from a volunteer only department to a combination department with both career firefighters and volunteers.  So far grants have covered a summer crew and the recently added Training and Retention Officer.  The staffing provided by these grants allows us to decrease response times, but we need to be in a position financially to cover these added costs when the grants run out.

We have started the process to replace aging fire trucks and water tenders.  The average age of our Fire Engines are 20 years; our Water Tenders are 30 years; and our Brush Trucks are 24 years. In 2021 a new fire truck cost $450,000.  Today a new fire truck costs $650,000.  We have ordered 2 new fire trucks and a water tender and still need to find a way to order one more fire truck and to replace several aging brush trucks.  Fortunately most of the cost of the Water Tender is covered by a grant.

These and other increasing costs are the drivers behind refreshing and increasing the levy.