Letter to the editor supporting Prop 1 from Shoreline Fire Chief, Matt Cowan

Dear Lake Forest Park Residents, 

The Shoreline Fire Department cannot advocate for the passage of Proposition 1 – A Regional Fire Authority measure that will be on the February 11, 2025, special election ballot. However, we have a duty and obligation to ensure that the voting public has accurate information about the upcoming Regional Fire Authority ballot measure before they cast their ballots. 

Therefore, I am compelled to write this letter after recently reading an opinion piece submitted by Dave Maehren about the upcoming Regional Fire Authority (RFA) ballot measure between the Northshore and Shoreline Fire Departments (No on Feb Election Prop 1 statement- 01/15/2025) because his opinion piece contains numerous false statements and inaccuracies about Proposition 1. 

Three years ago, the two fire departments entered into a contract for Shoreline to provide all executive, administrative, operational, and support services to the communities of Lake Forest Park and Kenmore. The Northshore personnel became Shoreline personnel and we came together operationally. It was also planned as a first step towards a RFA. 

A RFA will solidify this relationship and, because the contract can be cancelled with two year’s notice, ensure that we don’t lose the operational improvements we have gained due to the contract being ended. 

The RFA will also provide administrative efficiencies and significant financial savings. The result will be that 100% of all homeowners and 98% of all property owners will see a reduction in what they currently pay for fire and emergency medical services. These savings can be passed along to taxpayers, invested in improved services, or a combination of both. It will also result in low equivalent levy rates for many years to come. 

For the record, I am going to correct the key false statements about the RFA made in the letter to ensure that the residents of Laker Forest Park have factual and accurate information about the RFA: 

False statement: the RFA takes away important features our community enjoys today including local control. 

Fact: The RFA actually improves local control. The design of the RFA governance structure will ensure that communities represented by the two Departments will have an equal partnership in the governance of the RFA by taking existing Fire Commissioners from both organizations and combining them into one Board. This will provide a good conduit of communication and perspective to the Governing Board, ensuring local community representation. The RFA will also allow for the Commissioners from the Northshore Fire Department to help make strategic decisions for the entire organization, an improvement over their current role. 

False statement: The proposed RFA increases the levy authorization from $0.70 per $1,000 of assessed value (AV) to $1.00 in 2026. A 43% increase. 

Fact: The RFA plan and the resolutions passed by both Boards of Commissioners establish that the fire levy rate will be $.70 per $1,000 of AV in 2026. By State law, revenue from this levy cannot increase by more than 1% annually unless there is a vote of the people, which means that if assessed values were to remain flat, or no increase, in 2027 the most it could increase to is $.707.

False Statement: There is nothing the RFA can do that the Shoreline and Northshore boards of commissioners cannot already do. 

Fact: A big portion of the financial savings in a RFA comes from removing the need for “carryover” in both fire departments. Carryover is the amount of money needed to cover expenses from the end of the year until around April 1 st , when we receive first half tax revenues. All government agencies need to do this to cover bills in the first part of the year. Currently, both fire departments have carryover funds to cover these costs, but because Shoreline is covering all budgetary expenses, Shoreline is covering all the carryover. Northshore also has carryover funds to cover their share of the expenses. Furthermore, the carryover is a safety net for each Department if the contract were to be ended and suddenly the Departments were stand-alone again. By joining in a RFA, it is not necessary to duplicate this carryover and there are millions of dollars that can be saved. 

False statement: there are no real cost savings or service improvement with the RFA. 

Fact: Currently, the Shoreline Fire Department budget covers nearly all the costs to operate across the communities. However, there is a Northshore Fire Department budget to cover specific costs for that Department. Not including the transfer to Shoreline, that budget is about $387 thousand. We anticipate budget savings in line item costs such as; insurance, legal expenses, audits, software, consulting, elections, salary and benefits, etc. We will not know exactly how much these savings are until we are actually formed in a RFA, but we expect that it is around $196k. In these savings, very little is attributed to the Commissioners costs as they all will still be active on the RFA Governing Board. 

The bottom line is that the opinion piece published on 01.15.2025 makes many false statements about the lack of benefits and cost savings from the RFA. 

I am stating the facts about the RFA so that voters can make informed and educated decisions on this important ballot measure. The RFA will provide improved services and savings. You can access more information on our website at https://shorelinefire.com/rfa/. 

Help us ensure the strength of our fire department for decades to come and please remember to vote! 

Thanks, 

Shoreline Fire Chief Matt Cowan