Everything costs more now than it did just last year. That’s likely a fact of life none of us can escape. The same is true for the cost of providing fire, rescue, and emergency medical protection in Point Roberts – one of the most geographically isolated and stand-alone U.S. communities. That’s why you’ve heard discussion about a levy increase coming before the voters later this year.
Point Roberts last raised the fire district’s levy in 2010. Back then, we were a small operation who answered less than 10 calls per month—one every three days on average. We’re much more today. Last year we answered 484 calls, a 379% increase compared to 2010 where the district responded to only 101 calls. We now have more staff to look after your needs, higher skills to apply, and better equipment for you and to keep your responders safe and protected. But the cost of doing business has risen as well—40% across the board based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index between 2010 and to date in 2023. Today, our levy rate remains among the very lowest in all of Whatcom County, coming in number 11 of the 13 fire protection districts.
It's not just the increase in activity—we do much more now to ensure your health and safety are protected at the highest levels possible. We have created innovative staffing approaches that have, for all purposes, doubled the number of personnel available to respond to your needs compared to 2010 levels. Over the past ten years or more, our team has worked tirelessly to improve service to you in emergency response and community involvement. A few things to mention is our average response time to all calls is under 6 minutes once dispatched, the community’s insurance rating was improved from 6 to a 5 providing potential savings to resident and commercial properties, a new fire engine was purchased that is capable of responding quickly and efficiently to emergencies, and 36 new medical providers have been certified with nearly half to the advanced EMT level ensuring the best opportunity for us to get you safely to definitive care. Additionally, we have trained over 300 community members in life saving CPR and other first aid procedures to solidify the “chain of survival” for the community and developed a Community Paramedic program that supports residents through weekly home visits. But all this comes at a cost.
We have used careful management of revenue and reserves, along with a few federal and private grants, to allow us to make all these purchases and upgrades without raising the levy ceiling or going into debt over the last thirteen years. We are now at a point where the levy will no longer support current operations or capital needs into the next decade and beyond.
Your commissioners have been holding public meetings to explore our best paths moving forward and have narrowed it to a couple of options. Each has advantages and disadvantages, so we are reaching out to ask your opinion on how best to proceed. You can get a more complete picture of our projected needs for the next decade on the WCFD5 website at www.wcfd5.com in the “NEWSFLASH” section.
Below we pose a few basic questions to help us refine our options. Please take a moment and give us your feedback.