Mattawa City Council proposes annexation into Grant County Fire District 8

MATTAWA — The Mattawa City Council wants annexation with Grant County Fire District 8 because the fire district is increasing the fee the city pays for fire protection services. But fire officials said the agreement won’t benefit the district.

During a Feb. 18 meeting, council member Tony Acosta proposed annexation into the fire district. He said the idea was discussed in 2016, but at the time, the fire district commissioners weren’t in favor.

Barbara Davis, business manager for fire district and district secretary for the fire district board of commissioners, said it is the fire district’s understanding if the city were to be annexed into the fire district, the city would become part owner of the district’s assets.

“Currently, the commissioner board is not in favor of that,” Davis said. “They wouldn’t be paying for anything. It is not a benefit to us.”

Davis said in previous conversations with the city, the district suggested the city add a safety fee for fire and EMS services. Any extra funds could assist the police department.

The current contract between the fire district and the City of Mattawa is “very old,” according to Davis, and “needs renegotiated.”

“The city can come back to us and negotiate their contract,” Davis said. “It’s not the same rate as everybody else.”

In 2021, residents in Fire District 8, outside of the city, pay 91.3 cents per $100,000 of assessed value for fire service and 45.4 cents for EMS service. That amount has decreased from 2020, according to Davis.

While levy rates are going down, the amount of assessed value in the district’s coverage area is going up.

“Our district’s assessed value increased by 9.4 percent this year,” Davis said. “The average the last three years that it went up was 2.7 percent. In relation, we can only ask for 1% more of what the actual levy amount was. The levy rate went down considerably. The city’s assessed value went up, too.”

In 2020, Mattawa accounted for 28%, or 141, calls of the fire district’s 509 total calls for service. Of those 141 calls, 16 were for fire and 125 were for EMS.

“That takes out the school and the two clinics,” Davis said. “That’s just counting the residents. When you look at that, it’s larger than anywhere else. Is it worth giving some of our assets to the city?”

During the city council meeting Thursday, a fire annexation committee, consisting of Acosta, council member Sun Hwang, Celaya and city attorney Katherine Kennison, was appointed to discuss the matter with the fire district.

Davis said the city needs to have a conversation with the fire commissioners before any action can be taken.