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EMS ok to provide $103,000 to the Point

by Meg Olson

While Point Roberts voters will only be a small voice in deciding whether to adopt a countywide levy to support emergency medical service (EMS), if the levy passes local taxpayers will be handing over a sizeable chunk of cash to the local fire department.

All Whatcom County voters will be asked on the November ballot to approve an additional tax to a maximum of 38.5 cents a year for six consecutive years. The EMS levy requires approval from 60 percent of county voters and a voter turnout of at least 40 percent to pass.

The funds will be used to support “fire service pre-hospital countywide emergency medical services,” which in most of the county means the Medic One ambulance service. Medic One is now supported 55 percent by user fees, with the rest coming from the county and the city of Bellingham general revenues. The levy would free up general fund revenues for the city and county and pay for additional EMS resources in the county.

Since Medic One doesn’t come to Point Roberts, the funds that are collected here will stay here. “We set aside effectively the value of dollars that would be taxed for this service in Point Roberts,” said deputy county executive Dewey Dessler. “It’s going to be carved out and sent to Point Roberts fire district for emergency medical services.”

If adopted, Dessler said the EMS levy would give the Point Roberts fire department an estimated additional $103,000 in 2004. “That’s a tremendous boost,” he said. In 2003 the department collected $198,215 in taxes to support fire and EMS, according to the county assessor’s office.

Dessler said that the county’s long-term strategic plan could bring even more resources to help improve EMS on the Point. “There’s a tiered priority list and Point Roberts is near the top,” he said.

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