The Spokane Valley Fire Department wants voters to approve a $113 million tax to help pay salaries, buy new fire engines and build a new Barker Road fire station and a new maintenance facility.
The maintenance and operations levy will be on the Feb. 12 special election ballot. The cost would be spread across four years. It would replace an expiring levy that 72 percent of voters embraced in 2015.
The levy tax rate is proposed at $1.90 per $1,000 of assessed home value. That’s a 10 cent increase over the department’s expiring levy of $1.80 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The levy needs at least 60 percent of voter approval to pass. For the owner of a home with a $200,000 assessment the cost would be about $380 per year.