GC Fire District 8 residents to vote on EMS levy Feb. 13

MATTAWA — Voters in Grant County Fire District 8 will be asked to accept or reject a six-year emergency medical services levy request in a special election Feb. 13. 

If it’s approved, the levy would replace the district’s existing levy, approved in 2018. The levy rate would continue at 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. 

Fire District 8 is about 248 square miles, encompassing the city of Mattawa, Desert Aire and surrounding orchards, farms and wildlands. Chief Matt Hyndman said in an earlier interview that more than half the district is owned by the federal or state governments. 

If the levy is approved, a landowner with property assessed at $250,000 would pay $125 in taxes, while a property owner with property assessed at $300,000, would pay $150.

Barbara Davis, GCFD 8 business manager and district secretary, said the levy helps pay to maintain ambulance service, and only the ambulance service. The district’s firefighting services are funded separately.

Davis said she has tracked the district’s calls for service, and most of them are for EMS rather than fires. About 78% of the district’s calls were for EMS responses in 2023, she said, and about 82% were EMS calls in 2022. The 10-year average, she said, is about 79% of calls are related to medical issues.

If the levy is approved, the money will help pay for training, equipment and personnel, according to information on the district website. 

Fire District 8 has six full-time EMT-firefighters in addition to Davis and Hyndman. The levy helps pay part of personnel costs. It pays for continuing education and training for both full-time staff and volunteers, as well as equipment replacement, maintenance and upgrades. The levy also helps pay for maintenance on the district’s three stations, all of which house EMS equipment.

The majority of patients in the district are covered by Medicare or Medicaid, Davis said, neither of which pays the full cost of EMS response. The levy helps make up some of the difference.

Ballots will be mailed to voters in late January. A ballot dropoff box is available in the parking lot at the Mattawa Community Medical Clinic, 210 Government Road.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.