Additional EMS taxes not needed to maintain excellent service levels

Voting no on the proposed EMS levy will not impact Mukilteo’s excellent EMS service. With call volumes down (Sno911 annual report), EMS expenditures decreasing (Mukilteo annual budget 2024), and full EMS staffing, why would the City ask voters to approve a $1.6 million tax increase? We believe this EMS levy proposal is disingenuous, misleading, not evidence-based, and does not consider the best interests of our residents, renters, and seniors on fixed incomes.

When being asked to part with your tax dollars, it’s important to better understand how EMS funding actually works.

When you hear that the EMS levy rate is decreasing and all the City is requesting is to restore it to the previous rate, that doesn’t mean that tax dollars have decreased. Instead, the tax dollars the City collects for EMS have remained the same. The rate has decreased because the assessed property values have increased and the law requires that the same amount of EMS tax dollars be collected (assessed property value multiplied by EMS levy rate equals same amount of EMS tax dollars collected). Even so, that doesn’t include new construction or the 1% annual tax increase the City can (and does) impose on residents, which adds even more EMS revenue.

When you hear that call volumes have increased, that doesn’t mean additional EMS taxes are necessary to maintain the excellent level of service that Mukilteo residents are already experiencing. Mutual aid results in Mukilteo personnel helping other jurisdictions when necessary and in turn, other jurisdictions helping Mukilteo when needed. Contrary to what you may have been told, mutual aid to and from Mukilteo is balanced. And, according to SnoCo911 dispatch reports, Mukilteo call volumes are actually decreasing over the past few years. Adding more positions will likely result in more mutual aid being provided by Mukilteo tax dollars outside of Mukilteo.

When you hear that response times will improve, it’s important to note there’s been no evidence provided to show Mukilteo was below the threshold to begin with nor does the EMS levy address how it will improve resident’s lives.

When you hear that EMS transport units will be funded by this EMS levy, it’s important to realize that’s not in the current plan. Nor is any relief for the ambulance fees that are charged to residents who are transferred to the hospital.

Last year, voters overwhelmingly rejected the 49% EMS tax increase and now the City is asking for an even larger increase of 82%, where the majority of the funding (almost $1,000,000 in salaries and benefits) is intended to add six new firefighters to an already 24/7, fully-staffed

Mukilteo Fire Department. Last year, the reason given by the City to voters to approve the EMS Levy was to eliminate the general fund subsidy so the City could use that money saved for discretionary spending, not necessarily on public safety.

This year the City changed its tune and is informing voters that the majority of the money raised will go toward hiring six new firefighters.

If the City found such a need to hire more firefighters, why wasn’t this brought up last year? To us, it feels like they’re moving the goalposts in order to have this EMS levy passed.

They even hired an outside public affairs consultant at $40,000 specifically to convince you to vote for something Mukilteo doesn’t need.

This EMS levy is an opportunity for residents to decide whether they believe their property taxes should be raised or not. We recommend that voters choose based on evidence – the evidence shows our current EMS is excellent and does not need to be overstaffed. The National Fire Association requires that engines be staffed with a minimum of four on-duty members (NFPA 1710). As it stands, Mukilteo Fire has every shift staffed by five firefighters/paramedics, which is above the NFPA recommendation. Furthermore, the City has already approved a 24.5% surface water tax increase without voter approval.

We are not against funding public safety in Mukilteo. We believe our City should work smarter when approaching public safety solutions and be accountable and transparent to the people they serve.

We find other public services are being ignored and deserve funding before we overstaff our fire department. For example, our Mukilteo Police and our city’s infrastructure deserve to be updated to improve public safety.

We all want and deserve to live in a forward-thinking city that’s prepared for the needs of tomorrow.

Given the lack of evidence linking the tax increase to improved EMS service or response times, voting no is reasonable and will not impact Mukilteo’s current excellent EMS service.

Steve Schmalz, Sabrina Otness, and Kevin Stoltz are members of the EMS levy con committee who wrote the opposing statement and rebuttal in the voters’ pamphlet.