Here's What To Know About Renton's Ballot Proposition 1

RENTON, WA — Ballots have arrived in the mailboxes of nearly 1.4 million King County voters, featuring a few hundred local races and more than a dozen ballot measures across various jurisdictions.

In Renton, voters will see a handful of city council contests and school board races, alongside Ballot Proposition 1, which seeks to renew one of the Renton Regional Fire Authority's key sources of funding. All voters living within the RFA's boundaries will have a chance to weigh in on the measure, including residents around the East Renton Highlands and Cascade-Fairwood. The agency's fire benefit charge supports approximately 40 percent of the RFA's operating budget.

To help voters get a better idea of what the measure entails, Patch chatted this week with Steve Heitman, the Renton RFA's fire chief.

This conversation was lightly edited for length and clarity.

Can you walk us through what a fire benefit charge is?

Chief Steve Heitman:

"The fire benefit charge is part of a two-part funding system that we have, which is based upon a formula that takes each parcel into account and is determined by the fee schedule that we set. That's applied to this formula that takes in square footage, and how much fire flow is going to be needed, how many resources are going to be needed, what the property does. So, its risk factor, such as an industrial, or say a fuel depot, is going to have a much higher risk factor than a residential property. That is what determines what the benefit charges for that piece of property.

"We evaluate this each year, whether or not we're going to need to increase our fire benefit charge or not. That's balanced by the property tax, which, because we have a fire benefit charge in place, is set to the 1 percent increase limit set by the state. So, every year as property values increase, the amount that we collect decreases. We are currently at about 73.5 cents. We were at 80.

"So, then we balance that out to estimate what are our collections going to be. How much are we bringing in from other revenue streams that we have, such as grants, funding from the county, that sort of thing. That's what helps us determine our budget each year.

"One of the reasons that we are looking for a 10-year on this next fire benefit charge is we've got some capital projects coming that we're going to be going out for bond on. So, as part of our bond rating process, the more stable your finances are the better rate that you receive. In order to save our communities some money on the bond as we move forward for those projects, we're looking for a 10-year rather than a six, because that's looked on more favorably than just going for another six-year."

What are some of the capital projects in the works?

Heitman:

"We're looking at rebuilding Station 16. That's the main one right now that is on our radar. That is out in the east area, in Fire District 25, on 156th and Northeast 4th. We may have some remodel projects coming up for some of the other existing stations, but that's the one that we're going to be replacing and the main one we're focused on for the bond."

How much of your budget relies on this funding?

Heitman:

"Currently, it's about 40 percent of the overall budget. We have not raised that fire benefit charge in the last three years, and we're not planning on doing so for the final year, which is next year, of the current six-year period. Like I said, each year when we start looking at the budget, the funding, seeing where property taxes are, we assess what those rates need to be in order for us to meet our budget."

Can you explain how the fire benefit charge can be more beneficial than relying solely on property taxes?

Heitman:

"It keeps those property taxes down, especially for those homeowners that don't have a high-risk property. The problem with the property tax is that the values fluctuate. So, if you have an economic downturn — the best example is the Great Recession — that can take your budget send it very far south, and put you in a world of hurt. The fire benefit charge provides more stability, because there isn't a whole lot of change in the properties, or what they do, or their risk factors unless you get new construction. That is a much more stable source of funding for us, and allows us to do more accurate long-term planning, knowing that we've got that fire benefit charge in place."

What are some of the things this revenue helps pay for in the community?

Heitman:

"We use it across the board for multiple things, from firefighter staffing and training to maintenance and construction of facilities to equipment. But we also use it for our public outreach, which is our public education and FDCARES program. FDCARES is a program that we are in partnership with Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority and also the Skyway Fire District. That is a low acuity response vehicle. They do not respond to emergencies, they go to low acuity calls and can actually spend some time with the patient to make sure that they're getting the help they need.

"Quite often we get calls for 911 and basically our choices are we either leave the person at home or we take them to the emergency room. Not all these patients need to go to the emergency room, but they can't necessarily stay home. This program is designed to be that intermediary. It's staffed by a nurse and an EMT. All of the nurses work for Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority, but we contract and put one of our EMTs on that rig. Then they can go out to these low acuity calls and they can spend the time necessary with the patient to either get doctor's appointments set up, help them with their medications, get them involved with social services if that's what they need. They'll take an hour, two, three hours if necessary to spend with this patient. If we send an emergency crew, they need to respond, try and meet the patient's needs and get back into service as soon as possible to be ready for that next call."

Renton RFA is hosting a series of open house events through the end of October, where community members and families can check out their local fire stations, get up close with the equipment, and learn more about fire safety and the fire benefit charge.

Here are the upcoming open houses:

Oct. 23, 2021

• Fire Station 13 (18002 108th Ave. SE)
  • 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.
• Fire Station 15 (1404 N 30th St.)
  • 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Oct. 30, 2021

• Fire Station 16 (12923 156th Ave. SE)
  • 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.
• Fire Station 17 (14810 SE Petrovitsky Rd.)
  • 1 a.m. - 3 p.m.