Everett council authorizes mayor to sign interlocal creating Snohomish County EMS oversight agency

The Everett City Council voted Jan. 8 to authorize Mayor Franklin to sign an interlocal agreement to create a new Snohomish County EMS oversight agency that will replace the county’s current medical program office.

Dave DeMarco of the Everett Fire Department told the council the existing county EMS program has been largely nonfunctional for about a decade and that recent internal failures left the agency unable to maintain basic financial and digital records. He said the countywide proposal is to form a Washington nonprofit corporation overseen by a multi‑jurisdiction board and funded via the existing EMS levy mechanism. "We have 18,100 certified EMS providers in the county," DeMarco said, "and the new agency will provide the governance and staff needed to meet state requirements."

Why it mattered: DeMarco said the current Everett payment to the county program is about $75,000 per year and that participating in the new agency will increase Everett’s annual contribution to roughly $150,000 per year. Funding will come from assessed‑valuation‑based EMS levies; the proposed agency’s budget language uses the same levy base and imposes caps on year‑to‑year growth. The interlocal requires three years of commitment from participating jurisdictions, and the agency needs roughly 90% county participation to stand up.

Council members asked how withdrawal would work and how the new agency would manage back‑office functions. DeMarco said the new entity would operate with about 3.1 full‑time employees and would buy shared services (IT, HR, finance) through a service‑level agreement with Snohomish County 911. He described limits on levies and growth controls built into the agreement. "The funding for this oversight agency is less than one‑half of one cent per thousand — 0.0046 cents per thousand — to be specific," DeMarco said, and added that the agency’s budget growth would be capped at 3% annually.

Council action: A motion to authorize the mayor to sign the interlocal passed on a roll call vote with all voting members recorded as "yes": Council member Toohey; Council member Bader; Council member Ryan; Vice President Zarlengo; Council member Vokhly; Council member Fosse; President Schwab. The council then recessed for five minutes.

Background and next steps: DeMarco said most county agencies have already signed the agreement; a few smaller agencies remained to be finalized. If Everett declined to participate, DeMarco said the county agency could not stand up as designed. The interlocal and executive summary were provided to council in the meeting packet for detailed review.