Clark County Fire District 5 and the Vancouver Fire Department could merge into one department, and while there would be some roadblocks, both sides would probably benefit, a feasibility study commissioned by Fire District 5 and presented to the Vancouver City Council Monday found.
The study looked at the possible annexation of the city’s fire department by Fire District 5, and determined the move has the potential to shore up the city’s struggling department. The Vancouver Fire Department will close Fire Station 6 in central Vancouver in January; and retiring Chief Don Bivins has said his department can’t keep up with demands without a change in its revenue.
“Is it feasible to move forward with annexation? The short answer… is yes,” said Martin Goughnor, Senior Vice President of Emergency Services Consulting International of Wilsonville, Ore., which conducted the study. “Are there challenges? Yes. Is the system sustainable as it is? No.”
Under an annexation, Fire District 5 would provide fire and emergency services, removing the obligation from the city’s ailing general fund and placing it on the district’s dedicated levy. Fire District 5 has a taxation rate of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, while Vancouver puts about $1.39 per of its $2.51 per $1,000 assessed value property tax toward fire. If the annexation was approved by voters, the Vancouver City Council would choose how much it would reduce its general levy to compensate — the study showed they could reduce it by the corresponding $1.39, by $1.50, not at all, or anywhere in between. Until the council indicates what it would do, the potential cost to taxpayers remains unknown.
The study outlined the two systems’ operating structures and identified how annexation could work, without making a policy recommendation about whether the departments should merge. The annexation discussion will be brought before the city council again early next year, as part of a larger discussion about the potential to create similar regional authorities or taxing districts for other city services, including parks and recreation and transportation.
Annexation would take authority from the city council and place it under the Fire District 5 commissioners. Elections for those positions would be held citywide, and it’s possible that the commission would expand from its current three member commission to include more people, Fire District 5 Commissioner Roy Rhine said Monday.
The two bodies would have to work out numerous details to a merger, including how to pay for millions of dollars for the replacement and/or remodeling of several Vancouver fire stations that fall well below seismic and other building safety measures. Councilors also expressed concern about how long a new Fire District 5 would remain sustainable without raising its taxing rate.
Councilor Pat Campbell said that he is wary of passing off a broken fire department to another district.
“I can’t see us taking our problem to Fire District 5 — it feels like a game of hot potato,” Campbell said. “It sounds to me more like a scheme than a plan.”
But Rhine said that it was his district who commissioned the study, and he believes the annexation would be beneficial, adding that “we don’t look at it like a hot potato.”
Councilor Bart Hansen said he wants to look more into the idea, and pointed out that people are more likely to support a tax if they know exactly where their money is going.
The idea was also greeted with enthusiasm by Vancouver Firefighter Union President Mark Johnston, who said he appreciates the single-minded focus on public safety that fire district commissioners have.
“It has the potential to provide a better level of service than the city is providing now,” he said. “I don’t care what the color of the uniform is, or what it says on the badge or on the fire engine door. I care about which organization is in better position to provide a higher level of service.”
The city and the Fire District 5 have a history of cooperation: In 1994, the Fire District entered into a service contract with the Vancouver to provide emergency and prevention services to the citizens of the fire district, which encompasses Orchards, Sifton, Proebstel, Barberton, Heritage, Walnut Grove, St. Johns, Pleasant Valley, Five Corners, Glenwood and Minnehaha. All employees, equipment and assets of the district became the property of the city.
In the agreement, the district provides funding to the city at a ratio that matches how much of the city contributes. As Vancouver has decreased its general fund contributions to the fire department, the district has decreased its funding. However, the district has used some of its money to keep services in its service area whole: This year, commissioners agreed to pay for five firefighters at Station 7 in Glenwood.
Andrea Damewood: 360-735-4542 or andrea.damewood@columbian.com.
