Voters in Renton may face a choice in near future to remove the fire department from city books in favor of creating a Regional Fire Authority, with an ability to create its own revenue stream to pay for operation.

Though still in its infancy and needing voter approval, city officials hope making the switch to an authority will free up millions of dollars in the city budget to help meet projected gaps between revenue and expenses.

However, creating a fire authority would loosen city control over the department and operations, which is the choice voters will have to consider should the idea ever make it to a ballot.

“For me it makes economic sense,” said Councilman Ed Prince, who chairs the city’s RFA Planning Committee. “But if the voters don’t want it, the voters won’t vote for it.”

Authorized by a 2004 state law, a regional fire authority is a special-purpose tax district created by voters that combines at least two existing fire districts into a single entity. The boundaries would be coextensive to the boundaries of the entities that join.

In Renton’s case, the Authority would be a combination of Renton Fire Department and King County Fire District No. 25, which presently contracts with Renton for service. King County Fire District No. 20, which serves Skyway, is also part of the discussions, but is presently a non-voting observer, as determined at a recent planning meeting.

The process, however, is just getting under way.

For the city and the fire department, the key to creating an authority is a  dedicated, sustainable funding stream for the department.

“From a department standpoint, it gives us a budget authority,” said Chief Mark Peterson recently. “We’re not reliant on the city budget, we’ll be reliant on our own funds.”

“As we look out ahead, the idea of trying to find a more predictable funding source for fire service is something the council needs to consider,” said Chief Administrative Officer Jay Covington.

Covington said the administration began talking to the council about the idea of an RFA earlier this year and received the go ahead to pursue it as a way to help stabilize the city’s budget. Because of the 1 percent cap on property tax revenues the voters placed on municipalities through an initiative, cities like Renton have been struggling to make ends meet as expenditures rise quicker than revenues.

This year, Covington said the city’s new B&O tax helps stabilize the budget, but that will only cover the gap for so long and something else will need to be done in the future.

The fire department’s current budget is about $24 million dollars with the majority of costs coming in salaries and benefits. Presently, the fire department is funded through the city’s General Fund.

Both Peterson and Covington also said a fire authority could help the department make up some ground on capital projects that need to be completed.

“I think that as we get into it, this could also provide us with resources to enhance our service,” Covington said.

“We know we need to build a new station out in Kennydale,” added Peterson as an example.

So far, planning for a fire authority is still in its infancy. There have been two meetings of the planning committee so far and details are still being studied and worked out.

There are several ways a fire authority can be put together and representatives from the various districts, as well as members of the administration and the City Council are presently looking into what shape an RFA might take in Renton.

Advising the committee is attorney Brian Snure, who helped set up the Regional Fire Authority in Kent. Snure helped put together a rough draft of a proposal – one that did not contain any details, but simply provided a structure for an RFA – for the committee, which he presented during last week’s meeting.

Among the options discussed were funding sources for an authority. There are two ways it can be funded: completely from property taxes or through a combination of property taxes and something called a “fire benefit charge.”

A fire benefit charge would mean a lower tax rate, but an additional cost based on a formula based on the size and type of structure and mitigated with discounts based on fire suppression equipment.

According to Covington, the residents presently pay about $1.85 per $1,000 assessed home value for fire service. An RFA could levy a rate of $1 per $1,000 assessed value plus a fire benefit charge to meet up to 60 percent of operating costs.

However, if an authority is created, the money presently collected for the fire department would not be eliminated, but most likely redirected to another part of the city budget.

“There would be an increased cost,” Covington admitted. “What still needs to be determined is what that would be.”

The RFA planning Committee meets again Nov. 20. Covington said there is no specific time frame at the moment, but the hope is to make a decision in time to go to voters before the next budget biennium, which begins in 2017.

“We’re still looking at this,” agreed Prince. “No decisions have been made yet.”

“This has to go before voters. The voters have to approve it,” Peterson said. “Ultimately, it’s their fire department.”