BURBANK, Wash. –
Fire Chief Mike Wickstrom said as call volumes go up and more people move into the Burbank area, the cost of the fire levy goes down for everyone, but the fire district is only able to increase the levy 1% per year without a vote.
Levy compression kicks in as more homes and businesses come to the area which can spread the existing staff and services thin.
“We’re trying to provide a service that when people call 9-1-1, we’re at their door in just a few minutes and that’s what they pay for and that’s what they should get,” Wickstrom said.
He also said Walla Walla Fire District 5 has no trouble dealing with one call at a time but have to call in help from further away when multiple calls come in at the same time.
“When you have a call in downtown Burbank on medical and then we have just down two blocks away we have another medical call and then we have another fire call we’re really getting really thin on our resources,” he said.
The proposed levy lift would aid in reducing the impact levy compression is having on the budget. The lift would potentially raise the levy from a $1.14 per thousand to $1.38 per thousand.
Wickstrom said they haven’t had to raise the levy lid for almost 30 years when the levy was first put in place but the combination of things getting more expensive and the growth is having an impact.
“We’ve always been able to manage really, really, well with the budget that we have but now our run volume is shooting up, volunteerism is dropping down. So, we used to have 30 volunteers down to 12 so it’s becoming – we’re really noticing a little bit more strain,” he said.
Wickstrom tells me the change would allow for four new fire fighters to be hired on and give the department more money for improvements to meet industry standards.
He tells me even though the election isn’t until November the department is trying to get the word out now.
“Definitely we’re trying to get the word out, so if people can call – and so they can understand it,” he said.
