The Riverside Fire Authority is seeking to recoup a six-figure amount in lost revenue from a discrepancy over levy collection, and it’s breaking new legal ground with a lawsuit against Lewis County and the Washington State Department of Revenue.
At issue is whether levy limits — state laws governing the amount of property taxes that can be collected for a given levy — can be ignored when correcting a previous “underlevy,” a year in which the taxing authority failed to collect the proper amount from taxpayers.
“What we’re seeking is an answer to that,” said RFA Chief Mike Kytta. “I’m not aware of another remedy (to regain the funds). It is new territory as far as we know.”
The cash-squeezed fire authority has laid off 28 percent of its full-time staff since 2011, Kytta said, and matters were made worse when the department received less than the legally allowed total on a pair of levies in 2016. The underlevy for the general fund fell short by $104,000, and the Emergency Medical Services levy had a $36,000 shortfall.