Submitted by Fire District 3 Commissioners Dwight Colley, Alexa Rust and Warren Appleton.

Fire District 3 held the first public hearing for its preliminary budget on Tuesday, Oct. 8. The 2025 San Juan Fire Protection District Budget is available at https://www.sjifire.org/.

Fire District 3 is asking voters to support a tax increase to secure funding current operations and – over time – improve our level of service.

Here are some facts the to consider when you vote in November:

District 3 is not part of San Juan County government. In 1958, concerned residents of rural San Juan Island founded a cooperative to fight fires. Using the Washington state initiative process, a junior taxing district was created to provide the funds needed for comprehensive fire protection. In 1963, District 3 passed its first and only levy of $1.42 per $1,000 of property valuation. Initiative 747 (aka the Tim Eyman 1% initiative) and 21 years of growth has reduced the rate to $0.29 per $1,000 of property valuation … the lowest for fire protection in Washington state.

The safety role of District 3 today is much more than fire protection. A small handful of career firefighters and our community volunteers provide fire, rescue and hazmat response 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In addition, the District assists with emergency medical response and supports police and EMS activities locally and provides mutual aid to our neighboring districts in San Juan County.

District 3 services have grown significantly. Population growth (estimated more than 500% since 1963, according to Census data) begets higher call volumes. In 2011, the Town contracted with District 3 to provide fire protection when it closed its Friday Harbor Fire Department and later annexed into the service area following voter approval. District 3 now services all of San Juan Island, multiple outer islands, two FAA-certified airports and three major nautical ports (one of them credited as the largest “small craft” port of entry in the United States). The threat of devastating wildland or structure fire has increased with more residents and visitors, our growing island industries, older construction and climate change.

Rising costs and inflation rates have far outpaced the District’s allowable 1% revenue restraint. (The average annual U.S. inflation rate has been 2.3% for years 2001-2023.) Underfunding has led to reduced staff, reduced services and reduced response times. Three staff positions have already been cut. This year the District has reduced career firefighter staffing by 3.5 FTE and will reduce another 1 FTE in 2025. The staffing reduction, along with other expenditures, are necessary to support balancing the upcoming 2025 budget.

Voters who want details can read explanations in the published Voters’ Pamphlet available at https://www.sanjuancountywa.gov/1221/Elections-Office. The proposed levy ($0.70 per $1,000 of assessed valuation) is less than half of what was originally authorized in year 1963 ($1.42 per $1,000 of assessed valuation). This amount is much less than collected by similar fire districts across Washington state.

The simple truth is that if this funding request is rejected, property owners still might wind up paying more in other ways. Response times and services will be affected with less staffing, training and equipment available. That increases the risk of smaller emergencies turning catastrophic. This will likely raise insurance rates to reflect additional risk. Given the choice between funding fire protection or insurance companies, we urge the voters to pick our local emergency services.