If you had to choose between funding the fire department or the library, which would you choose?
That's the question before voters in Airway Heights in this Aug. 1 primary election.
Currently, Airway Heights funds all city services — including the library, police and fire department — with a general property tax levy.
But the cost for all city services exceeds the amount collected in these taxes.
The Airway Heights Fire Department has borne the brunt, says Assistant Fire Chief Nate Whannell. The predominantly volunteer staff is struggling to respond to more emergency calls.
Over the last decade, while the city's population has grown 35 percent, emergency medical calls have boomed 172 percent.
In an effort to respond, the city hired four full-time firefighters this year, Whannel says. However, these positions are currently funded out of reserves — the city's savings account — which Whannel says is not sustainable.
In addition, the fire station — built in 1968 — is outdated. Despite 10 renovations over the decades, it's no longer capable of serving the community or its firefighters.
"The station lacks adequate decontamination areas to wash off carcinogens and medical waste after calls, and station bays are too small to fit modern ladder trucks," City Manager Albert Tripp said in a statement, adding that much of the time firefighters are working without air conditioning or heat.
To solve the problem, voters are being asked to consider two ballot measures that would, in effect, maintain library services, hire firefighters to respond to higher call volumes and replace the city's fire station.
The first measure asks voters to approve joining the Spokane County Library District. The library is already unofficially part of the library district. But if voters approve officially joining the system, property taxes would go straight to the library, freeing up city dollars. Currently, the city pays about $370,000 a year to fund its library.
This freed up revenue would be used to maintain funding for the recently hired firefighters, Whannel says.
If approved by voters, the library measure would take effect in 2025 and cost the owner of a $300,000 home about $100 a year, says Patrick Roewe, executive director of the Spokane County District Library.
The second ballot measure asks voters to fund the renovation of a property to accommodate the fire station. Tripp says the city has signed an agreement to buy a building at 1149 S. Garfield Road in Airway Heights. If the bond is successful, the owner of a $300,000 home would pay about $111 a year, and the city will receive $1.3 million in grant money from the state to help pay for the purchase, saving taxpayers 15 percent of the cost, Tripp said.
To reduce impacts to taxpayers, Tripp says the city has staggered these requests. The bond would take effect in 2024 — one year before the library annexation.
Both the City Council and the library district's board of trustees have unanimously supported the proposal, but the final decision remains with the voters of Airway Heights.
"It seems odd to talk about library and emergency services in the same sentence, but both are critical to the well-being of our growing community," Tripp said. "One saves minds, and the other saves lives." ♦
