Vancouver officials are weighing a variety of property tax options to raise more than $72.7 million toward improvements for the Vancouver Fire Department.
Natasha Ramras, the city’s chief financial officer, told the Vancouver City Council on Monday that about $60 million would be invested in capital costs to replace Stations 3 and 6 and remodel Stations 4, 5 and 8 to meet seismic standards.
Additionally, Ramras said, more than $12.7 million would go toward fire department staffing, operation and equipment costs. Items that come at a one-time cost are a $302,000 squad vehicle, a $2.1 million ladder truck and a Station 8 remodel estimated to cost $3.1 million.
Further assessments would provide a precise cost estimate, but there is a sense of urgency to determine levy tools so it can be included in the 2022 general election.
“We need to get this ready to rock and roll if we want it ready by November 2022,” Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle said during the Monday workshop. “Let’s keep moving forward as soon as possible.”
City Manager Eric Holmes said if the city assumes the $60 million capital amount, costs that aren’t used can be reinvested into the system. This would allow swifter action in strengthening Vancouver’s safety and resiliency initiatives.
Proposed property tax tools
One option for paying for those improvements is an excess levy for capital costs combined with a levy lift, which would include two separate ballot measures — one for a 20-year bond levy and the other for a permanent levy lid lift to fund operations, Ramras said. The levy rate under this tool would cost 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.
Another route uses two levy lift measures. She said this would put two separate measures on the same ballot, including one levy lid lift for a nine-year debt issue for capital costs and a permanent levy to fund operations. The rate with this tool would be 21 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.
To put the tools into perspective, someone who owns a $441,000 home would have to pay $93 per year under the nine-year levy or $53 per year with the 20-year levy. The permanent levy for fire operations would cost $150 — or 34 cents per $1,000 of assessed value of that property.
Vancouver is unlikely to go over the local or constitutional levy limits with either tool. In fact, the city’s levy rate is trending downward, Ramras said.
Council members agreed that they want to make the complex tax structure simple for voters to understand. They generally favored creating one item on a ballot using a permanent levy lid lift to include operating and capital costs in a “pay as you go” scenario.
The city council intends to discuss the levy tools before late November during another workshop.
