In an effort to lessen the burden on taxpayers and the city’s fire department, the Chehalis City Council has approved a pilot program to begin implementing fees for tax-exempt buildings to fund firefighting and emergency medical service (EMS) responses.
The council voted during the council’s Tuesday, May 28, meeting. The program was approved with a 6-1 vote among the council.
Chehalis city staff are currently entering into negotiations with tax-exempt property owners, and formal letters explaining the fees should be heading out to the property owners by the end of the month, according to Chehalis Fire Department Chief Adam Fulbright.
The fees will be collected annually and based at a rate of $1.85 per $1,000 of the tax-exempt property’s assessed value.
Tax-exempt buildings currently under consideration for this pilot program include county and state-owned properties. Additionally, nonprofit organizations and schools will also be included.
Fulbright told the council he created the program to try to make up for the lack of tax revenue the properties contribute.
“It creates a significant funding gap at times and needs to be addressed to maintain services,” Fulbright said. “The existing property owners that do pay taxes, they are burdened with that cost.”
Without the fees being charged for tax-exempt buildings, tax increases for Chehalis residents would be needed to maintain current fire and EMS responses, or services will be diminished, Fulbright said.
The fees will help reduce that funding gap. Fulbright told the council he expected to see between $75,000 to $93,000 additional funds in the city’s budget annually, depending on how the ongoing negotiations proceed.
Fulbright added he implemented a similar program at his previous fire department, East Grays Harbor Fire and Rescue.
Councilor John Six asked why the program currently does not include churches.
“That’s something we can address at a later date,” Councilor Bob Spahr replied.
“If we identify them as tax-exempt, we can certainly discuss it,” Fulbright added. “There’s several different tax-exempt properties we will identify and each one of those will have a separate agreement.”
Six also wondered if there are different avenues the city could pursue to help recover fire and EMS response costs aside from charging a fee to tax-exempt properties.
“We’re cramped on budget and just looking for any spot we can pull (funds from),” Six said.
The motion to create the pilot program for fees on tax-exempt buildings within Chehalis was approved 6-1, with Six opposing it.
For more information and to view the draft agreement between the City of Chehalis and Lewis County for fees on tax-exempt buildings the county owns, go to page 79 of the Chehalis City Council May 28 meeting agenda online at https://bit.ly/3KmjSKr.
This move follows the council’s approval of recovery fees charged to an individual’s insurance company in November 2023, which was done to help lessen the financial burden on the Chehalis Fire Department for equipment used in responses according to previous reporting by The Chronicle.
Prior to the recovery fees, the council also approved the creation of ambulance transportation fees in August 2023 to help the city pay for medical supplies and fuel amid the growth Chehalis is currently experiencing along with ongoing inflation.
