This is a bad idea in myriad ways. For starters its very unfair to those of us who have the least money. For someone who's elderly and whose income falls within the range that gives me a little break on my property taxes, this will cost me several hundred a year more that won't be eligible to be reduced because it isn't a tax, its a 'fee'. Second, this bad idea bloats the bureaucracy and adds unnecessary layers of 6-figured salaries for duplicated administrative positions. It takes away control of our fire departments from the cities and establishes yet another elected 'commission' which will be under the political control of those who contribute to their election... Third, its regressively designed to cost small homeowners and landlords proportionately much more than larger homeowners and apartment owners. (Use the tool in the opposition's website to see how this complex device is deeply regressive: www.saveourfd.org ). Forth, with our current tax structure, the fire department will always be funded; however, if we vote yes to make this RFA happen, then future levy votes could fail and we could end up without any fire service at all. That has already happened in a portion of Thurston County outside the City of Olympia. Finally, details this RFA, which was the idea of expensive consultants, needed Freedom of Information Act records requests to get details which had been kept secret from the public. Many of those 'devil's in the' details revealed by the information acquired are basically unfair to ordinary people and mainly serve the wealthy.
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