EMS levy would provide more funds for ambulance service Posted by Kimberly Jacobson | Jun 13, 2012 | 281 views

Voters will be asked in August to renew a six-year levy for Skagit County Emergency Medical Services that would raise the amount collected to support ambulance service in the county as well as replace ambulances and life-saving equipment.

Funding supports three agencies, including the Anacortes Fire Department, which is contracted to provide EMS services outside the city limits on Fidalgo and Guemes islands.

The Skagit County EMS Commission passed a resolution recently to place a levy on the Aug. 7 election ballot. The request is for six years at 37.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value — a 50 percent increase over the current levy.

This would cost the owner of a $300,000 home about $112 per year ($9.33 per month). The current levy, at 25 cents, expires this year.

The cost difference between the old and the new levy rate is 12.5 cents or about $37.50 per year for the owner of a $300,000 home.

The maximum that could be levied is 50 cents, but Skagit EMS Commission Manager Earl Klinefelter said that isn’t necessary.

“We’ve been successful in working with our providers to keep costs low for taxpayers, but now we’re feeling the pinch,” Klinefelter said. “In fact, this would be the first change to our levy rate since 1978.”