Prop 1 opponents don’t believe Camas-Washougal officials will dissolve the joint fire department

A group of Camas-Washougal residents are urging voters in both cities to “ax the tax” by voting against Proposition 1 on April 22.

The ballot measure asks voters to create a new taxing district, a regional fire authority, to replace the interlocal agreement that merged the cities’ fire departments in December 2013.

Camas-Washougal city and fire officials have long advocated for the formation of a regional fire authority to provide a long-term solution to the fire department’s financial challenges.

“The RFA was the recommended long-term solution and the path that the two cities have pursued,” Camas-Washougal Fire Department Chief Cliff Free told The Columbian earlier this month. Free said the fire authority would allow the department to hire enough firefighters to run three-person engine companies, which fire officials have long said is necessary to bring the department up to regional and state standards.

If voters reject the ballot measure, Free said the joint department will split.

“Without the RFA, we’re going back to two smaller, independent departments,” Free said. “We will have less equipment, fewer economies of scale.”

But Proposition 1 opponents question whether the fire department would actually go through with what Free has called “a prescription for divorce.”

‘Doing really, really well’

Anthony Metzidis, a software developer who moved to Washougal three years ago, is the treasurer of opposition group Concerned Taxpayers of Camas and Washougal. Metzidis said the group has raised a little more than $1,000 from the community to fund “Ax the Tax” signs and other opposition literature. Metzidis said he is convinced city officials won’t follow through on dismantling the joint department if voters reject Proposition 1 and will, instead, find a way to retain the interlocal agreement set to expire in 2026.

“I believe they can meet and resolve the differences,” Metzidis said, pointing out that the joint fire department already has strong community support despite being the only fire department in Clark County without a three-person engine crew. “The Camas-Washougal Fire Department is doing really, really well.”

Metzidis and other members of the Concerned Taxpayers group contend that the Camas-Washougal Fire Department is fine as is.

“The proposed RFA is a solution in search of a problem,” Camas resident Gary Perman said in the voters’ pamphlet opposition statement, which he penned. “Our fire and EMS services under the Camas-Washougal Fire Department rank among Washington’s best, with recent city surveys showing 87 percent resident satisfaction and 90 percent approval of emergency response times. This proven success makes the RFA a costly and unnecessary venture.”

City officials, however, have long said the interlocal agreement is not the best solution for the department. In 2018, just halfway through the 10-year agreement, Camas officials were already asking what it might take to dissolve the agreement after Washougal city leaders said the city could not afford to pay for the additional firefighters Camas officials hoped to add to meet increased service demands and form three-person engine companies.

Support from firefighters

Camas-Washougal firefighters, who have been pushing city leaders to increase staffing since early 2018, seem to be overwhelmingly in favor of the regional fire authority.

As of Monday, the Yes on Proposition 1 campaign had collected $42,750 in contributions: IAFF Local 2444 representing Camas-Washougal firefighters gave $40,000, IAFF Local 452 representing Vancouver firefighters gave $2,000, and Camas firefighter Bommarito Atherium contributed $750 worth of video production work.

If Proposition 1 is approved, taxpayers in Camas and Washougal would pay a flat rate of $1.05 per $1,000 assessed property value for fire and emergency medical services.

City officials have said that, if voters approve the ballot measure and remove fire and EMS costs from each city’s general fund, they will reduce property taxes by 60 cents in Camas and 81 cents in Washougal.

Camas taxpayers would end up paying an additional 45 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for the fire authority; Washougal taxpayers would pay an additional 24 cents per $1,000.

For the owner of a home with an assessed value of $500,000, the increase would amount to an additional $19 a month in Camas or $10 a month in Washougal.

That is a tax burden opponents say is too great on Camas-Washougal taxpayers.

“Everyone is preparing for some sort of recession,” Metzidis said. “What’s going to happen when tax values go down and tax revenues go up? We have to assume there is a recession coming. (Our city officials) need to manage their spending.”

Kelly Moyer: 360-735-4674; [email protected]