Municipal League of King County

Ballot Issues Committee

 

 

Seattle 2003 Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy

General Election Ballot Measure

 

 

Summary of Measure

 

This measure asks voters in the City of Seattle to authorize a 9-year property tax levy to generate $167 million dollars to upgrade the City’s fire facilities and emergency response capabilities.  The levy would be supplemented by existing City funds and by grants and other sources to create a total package of $197 million in improvements.  The levy would be imposed at initially $0.31 per thousand dollars of assessed value and would cost the owner of a median-priced home ($315,000) on average $73 a year.

 

The funds would be used to:

·         Upgrade, renovate or replace 32 neighborhood fire stations;

·         Upgrade the Fire Alarm Center;

·         Construct a new fire training facility;

·         Establish a new Emergency Operations Center;

·         Develop emergency community supplies, power generators and water supply capacity; and

·         Build two new fireboats as well as rehabilitate the existing Chief Seattle fireboat. 

 

The levy is structured over the nine-year period as follows:

 

 

Many of the City’s fire and emergency response facilities were built during the 1913 to 1954 period and are not up to current seismic and life safety standards and are too small to accommodate today’s equipment and advanced functions.  While eleven of the City’s 33 fire stations were built through Forward Thrust in the 1960s and 70s and all of the facilities have been maintained and upgraded over the years, many have aged to the point of suffering from operational inefficiencies, structural deficiencies and/or obsolescence.  Among the most pressing needs are replacement and relocation of the City’s central Fire Alarm Center and Emergency Operations Center into a new facility that is adequately sized and technologically capable of dealing with modern threats; development of a new fire training facility; and replacement of the obsolete fireboats.  The levy also includes expansion of the City’s emergency medical response capability from seven to twelve units to accommodate the enormous growth in medical calls.  Citywide, the proposed improvements would represent a 40% increase in square footage.  Approximately $2 million in increased operating costs would be absorbed by the City’s general fund by build-out.

 

Arguments FOR the Measure

 

The following arguments were put forth by the proponents of the measure:

·         The current Fire Alarm Center and Emergency Operations Center are located in a historic building that is undersized, seismically unsound and technologically outdated.  A newly built facility will ensure that these critical functions are located in secure environment adequate to modern communications and emergency response.

·         Emergency medic calls have grown from 8,000 a year in 1968 to 75,000 a year now.  Demand will continue to grow but new capacity for medic units is not available in the current facilities.

·         The existing fireboat Alki (built in 1928) is obsolete and the Chief Seattle (built in 1983) is in need of a complete overhaul.  The levy will provide funds to replace the Alki, rehabilitate the Chief Seattle with upgraded pumps and engines, and add a new smaller rapid response boat to the fleet.

·         A new joint training facility would serve the needs of various city departments and enable scenario training for residential and commercial fires, high-rise fires, and emergencies involving hazardous materials.

·         The cost estimates have been reviewed by engineers, contingencies have been added and the proposed measure has been reviewed and scaled back from the original, higher proposal. 

·         The City Council voted 9-0 to place the measure on the ballot.  It has the support of the Mayor and the Fire Fighters Union.

·         The levy mechanism is prudent and cost-effective because, unlike bonds, it does not require issuance costs and interest payments, but relies on a pay-as-you-go approach.

 

Arguments AGAINST the Measure

 

The Committee was not able to identify an organized opposition to the levy, but developed the following arguments against the measure:

·         Fire and emergency response facilities are among the most basic responsibilities of municipal government and should be paid for out of regular tax collections, not a special levy.

·         During the recent economic recession and taxpayer revolt against tax increases, this ambitious and expensive capital program is not warranted.  The timing is poor and the program is too large and too expensive.

·         Expanding and improving 32 out of 33 fire stations in the City smacks of political pork and cannot really be necessary.

·         The City did not consider joint facility planning and sharing with neighboring jurisdictions. 

 

Recommendation and Rationale

 

The Ballot Issues Committee recommends the Municipal League Trustees endorse the 2003 Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy.  The Nisqually earthquake and the terrorist attacks of recent years have made our citizens appreciative of the need for excellent emergency response capabilities.  The need is real, as many of the facilities are aging and wholly inadequate to modern threats.  Our Emergency Operations Center is outdated and vulnerable to a variety of failures and might not stand up to a large-scale emergency.  The time is right to invest in upgrading these facilities and improve our capability to respond to fires, medical calls, natural disasters, hazardous materials spills, or biological or chemical releases.