Central Whidbey Island Fire & Rescue (CWIFR) strives to maximize effectiveness, efficiency, and value to the community.

Understanding property taxes and fire district funding is a bit complex. There are two components to CWIFR’s property tax revenue. The regular levy and the voter-approved bond levy for specific capital projects.

First, who pays fire district taxes? Properties within the district’s boundaries that have buildings pay fire district taxes unless they are exempt such as schools, government buildings, and churches. There is no fire district tax on property that does not have buildings.

There are multiple limitations on property taxes, one is that the general levy rate for a fire district cannot exceed $1.50/$1000 of assessed valuation (AV). A second is that the general levy cannot increase more than 1% per year plus the revenue resulting from the construction of new buildings. As a result, if the assessed value of property paying fire district taxes increases, the levy rate goes down, and conversely, if the assessed value decreases, the levy rate goes up, but cannot exceed $1.50/$1000 AV.

The district’s bond levy was approved by the voters in November 2017 to pay the debt service on a bond for renovation and expansion of Station 53 on Race Road and purchase of three fire engines to replace apparatus that was reaching the end of its life cycle. This voter-approved levy is outside the statutory $1.50/$1000 AV limitation on the general levy.

After property taxes (regular and bond levy), the district’s major revenue streams result from charges for service. This revenue results from interlocal agreements providing payment for services to other local and state governmental entities including:

• Whidbey Island Public Hospital District (dba WhidbeyHealth): ILA for staffing and operation of a basic life support (BLS) ambulance for WhidbeyHealth Emergency Medical Services.
• The Town of Coupeville: ILA to perform fire and life safety inspections.
• Island County: ILA to perform fire and life safety inspections.
• Washington State Patrol: ILA for state all-hazards mobilization (most often for wildland fires)
• Washington Department of Natural Resources: ILA for wildland firefighting support.
• Washington Military Department (Emergency Management): ILA for interstate all-hazards mobilization (most often for wildland fires).

The district’s ILA with WhidbeyHealth provides annual revenue of $281,000. The revenue generated by the other ILAs is variable as it is dependent on the amount of work performed.

A bond rating is a grade given to a bond by a rating service that indicates its credit quality. The rating takes into consideration a bond issuer’s financial strength or its ability to pay a bond’s principal and interest in a timely fashion. Central Whidbey Island Fire & Rescue is one of the few fire districts in the nation that has received a AAA bond rating from Standard and Poor’s.