The Skagit County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department will host two Q&A sessions on the levy renewal proposal slated for the Tuesday, April 23 special election ballot.
Voters will be asked to approve a 47-cent tax on $1,000 of assessed property value, or $258.50 annually on a $550,000 home. If approved, the measure would replace the previous EMS levy, which collected at a rate of 44 cents per $1,000, starting in 2019. The rate has fallen steadily since then and stood at 31.6 cents in 2023.
If approved, the additional funds will go toward funding EMT positions, training, fuel, ambulance maintenance, medical supplies and more.
The first session will be online at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 11. The second one will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 13 at the EMS offices at 2911 E. College Way, Mount Vernon.
Skagit County EMS Director Josh Pelonio is slated to deliver a short presentation and answer questions from the community on the renewal during both sessions.
The number of emergency service calls to the system has increased by 25% over the past four years, Pelonio said. The department attributes the increase to growth in the county and an aging population.
“Skagit County provider agencies, including the cities of Sedro-Woolley, Mount Vernon, Burlington, Anacortes and Aero Skagit, responded to more than 18,000 calls and provided more than 9,200 ambulance transports to area hospitals,” according to a department news release.
Fire officials at a Jan. 22 public hearing before the Board of Skagit County Commissioners suggested putting a 50-cent levy rate on the ballot — the maximum allowed by state law. Commissioners on Jan. 29 voted to stick to the original proposal of 47 cents.
“It’s a bit of an increase in actual rate (compared to the current levy), but it’s still necessary to have non-interruption of services,” commissioner Lisa Janicki said at a Jan. 29 meeting.
If approved, the new levy would pick up where the old one left off, starting in 2025.
