TVF&R officials explain new local option levy on ballot this May

With a new local option levy on the ballot this May, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue hopes voters continue to support the fire district.

Voters have passed levies put forth by TVF&R every five years since 2000, most recently in 2019.

The 2019 levy, which pays for 92 firefighter and paramedic positions across TVF&R’s district, is set to expire in June 2025. TVF&R serves 11 cities in four counties with 29 stations covering 390 square miles.

To explain the new levy to community members and answer questions, TVF&R Chief Deric Weiss, director of government and public affairs Cassandra Ulven and public affairs manager Stefan Myers held a virtual town hall Monday, April 22.

The new levy, which is paid through residents’ property taxes, would cost property owners 69 cents per $1,000 assessed value. For the average property owner in TVF&R’s district, this will amount to about $17.54 per month. Ulven said TVF&R expects to maintain that rate for 10 years, or the life of two full levies.

Under the current levy, property owners in the district pay 45 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.

Ulven and Weiss explained that passing the new levy would allow TVF&R to keep the 92 firefighters and paramedics funded under the current levy and add 36 more to meet the growing needs of the district.

Additionally, the new levy would fund purchase of cardiac monitors, defibrillators and breathing apparatuses, as well as vehicles and supplies for wildfire response.

Weiss explained that, in the five years since the last levy passed, TVF&R’s call volume has grown 17%.

“In order to meet that demand and maintain that same level of response and reliability, we have to add firefighters and paramedics,” Weiss said.

The increase in call volume, he added, is largely due to three factors: the area’s growing population, the increasing age of the district’s population and an increase in wildfire-related calls.

If the new levy does not pass in May, Ulven said TVF&R would likely use the year between now and the expiration of the 2019 levy to learn what aspects of the measure community members did not support, retool it and put a new version back before the voters.

“Ultimately if our levy attempts fail and our current levy expires, we’d have to make significant reductions in our workforce because this levy is such a significant portion of our funding,” Ulven said.

According to Ulven and Weiss, having to ask voters to approve a new levy every five years means TVF&R must be good stewards of taxpayer money.

“Since 2000, we’ve maintained every commitment we’ve made to the voters, but this provides us the ability to plan for the next decade and maintain the reliable and effective emergency response that our community expects and deserves,” Ulven said.