After years spent considering the prospect of consolidating their fire departments, the City of Chehalis and Lewis County Fire District 6 appear poised to determine once and for all whether such a move would make sense for the citizens they serve.
Chehalis City Council and Fire District 6 Board of Commissioners have each approved a contract with William Cushman, a financial consultant, to complete a feasibility study of the potential annexation of Chehalis into Fire District 6, according to Cushman. He will be tasked with creating a model that stakeholders can plug different variables into, such as changes to the combined assessed value of properties in District 6 and Chehalis. Property tax revenues make up the vast majority of revenues for fire districts in the state of Washington.
Leaders of both entities, including Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes, have long been proponents of combining the two departments for the purpose of greater efficiency of resources, both operational and financial, without sacrificing the level of service provided to citizens.