South King Fire and Rescue fire officials are hoping voters pass a property-tax measure to fund station improvements that range from retrofitting buildings for earthquakes to replacing old emergency-response equipment.
Authorities say roofs are deteriorating, for instance, and dispatch technology is long overdue for updates. The investments are necessary to get the district’s eight buildings up to safety codes and to keep up with its growing population in Federal Way, Des Moines and parts of unincorporated King County, they say. “There isn’t a single one of our fire stations that would meet earthquake standards today,” Fire Chief Allen Church said. “We want to make sure that when the ‘big one’ hits, when the earthquake hits, we’re able to still respond … instead of trying to unfortunately unbury fire stations and work out of stations that have collapsed.”
The measure would institute a 16-cent property tax levy per $1,000 of assessed property value to pay for a $39 million bond issue over a maximum of 20 years. For the owner of a $450,000 home, that would add about $72 in property taxes per year, according to South King Fire and Rescue figures.