The Bainbridge Island Fire Department Board of Commissioners approved to put a levy lid lift proposal on the Nov. 4 general election ballot at its July 14 meeting.

BIFD is asking voters to consider a levy lid lift, which would cost 15 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value and would not exceed 72 cents total for the general fire levy, BIFD finance manager/privacy officer Ed Kaufman said. The current fire levy rate is about 57 cents. The resolution also includes a provision that would allow the district to increase the limit factor on revenue (currently 1% annually) to match the Consumer Price Index for years 2027-2031. Per state law, fire districts are not allowed to increase tax rates over 1% per year. However, with voter approval, districts can increase tax rates for a set period of time.

If approved by voters in November, the new rate would go into effect Jan. 1, 2026, and would generate roughly $2,070,680 in 2026, Kaufman said. Under the current proposal, BIFD doesn’t anticipate asking voters to reset either the fire or EMS levy rates earlier than 2027. However, this is dependent on economic factors including staffing, inflation and firefighting/medical supplies costs, he said.

‘Since our last ask of the voters in 2019, we have been working to address staffing shortages to ensure we can meet minimum staffing requirements for each station,” BIFD fire chief Jared Moravec said. “This is a result of not having enough personnel assigned to each shift to cover vacancies as well as trying to adapt to changes in the workforce surrounding recruiting and retention in a post-COVID world. The department has made progress in addressing these areas of concern. For example, we have been able to reduce shift overtime by over 50% in the first half of 2025 as compared to last year through the hiring of additional personnel. This also greatly reduces burnout of our firefighters for having to cover so many shifts to ensure each station is staffed.

“The fire department is committed to continue to look for efficiencies while, at the same time, ensuring that fire and emergency medical services are maintained for island residents,” Moravec went on to say. “Inflation and economic uncertainty continues to be a factor for all of us in the current world, and the department’s ask this November attempts to minimize impacts to the taxpayer while ensuring we aren’t risking our ability to provide emergency services to the community. This ask will provide stability in providing services for at least the next couple of years.”

Additionally, Moravec said with the recent federal changes to Medicaid, he’s uncertain if the department will be able to be reimbursed for medical transports, as they have been in years past. Moravec estimates roughly 5% of BIFD’s revenue comes from Medicaid. “The safe assumption is that that revenue stream is going to go away as part of the over trillion dollars worth of cuts to Medicaid,” he said.

Commissioner Scott Isenman, who voted against the levy lid lift, shared his concerns regarding the uncertain economic climate.

“It bothers me to go to the public and say, we want this money, but we know we need more than this,” he said.