EFJR Funding on February Ballot

EJFR proudly serves the residents of East Jefferson County through comprehensive fire and life safety prevention programming, emergency medical responses, and fire and technical rescue responses, totaling more than 5,800 calls for service each year.  Following the merger with Port Ludlow Fire in 2022, EJFR continues to operate without increases in personnel head count, meeting minimum staffing of emergency responders and maintaining a lean efficient administrative staff.

The district is primarily funded through property tax levies for Fire and for EMS, without significant funding from other government agencies such as Jefferson County or the State of Washington.  However, state law limits property tax revenue increases to 1% annually regardless of increases in assessed values of properties.  This helps protect property owners, incentivizes EJFR to contain its costs, and to partner with our community when levy lid lifts are needed.

Operating expenses, which include salaries, benefits, training, equipment, vehicle maintenance, and facilities, continue to rise with inflation creating a gap between annual property tax revenue and operating expenses.  This fiscal gap is routinely addressed through resetting the property tax levy rates every few years. 

For the 2025 tax year, the Fire Levy rate was $1.24 per $1000 of assessed value (AV) and the EMS Levy rate was $0.48 per $1000.  Due to the 1% state mandated cap, the levy rates will decrease to $1.21 for Fire and $0.47 for EMS in 2026. In addition, they are projected to drop to $1.19 for Fire and $0.46 for EMS in 2027. 

This month, voters will be asked to reset these property tax levy rates to $1.40 for Fire and $0.50 for EMS starting in 2027 to allow EJFR to continue providing necessary services and replace aging equipment.