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Council and commissioners discuss a fire-impact-fee study and possible fire district
Summary
Planning staff told the joint session a study is underway to model potential fire impact fees and what facilities fees could fund; council members noted recent legislative changes reopening the idea of a separate fire district, which would likely require voter approval.
Planning staff told the joint meeting a study is underway to set a baseline for possible fire impact fees: what facilities such fees could pay for, how much revenue they might raise and what the fiscal impacts would be. The staff explained the study is intended to inform future conversations rather than to impose fees immediately.
"We're doing a study right now that's just setting a baseline for what kind of facilities could be paid for with fees and what the financial impacts would be," the planning staff member said, emphasizing the work is preparatory and information-driven.
Council members and commissioners also discussed the separate but related possibility of creating a fire district outside the city structure. A council member (S7) said recent legislative changes have reopened that option after earlier doubts about feasibility. "It looked like it wasn't going to be a possibility, because it wasn't going to be passed in the legislation. It now is," the council member said, noting prior meetings with the chief and union representatives.
Staff said the topic will be brought to the June 1 Public Safety committee meeting for research on a fire district versus a regional fire authority and that either path would likely require voter approval and several years of work. The group emphasized the need for a clear financial analysis and voter engagement if a district is pursued; no decision or ordinance was proposed at the joint session.
