The South County Fire Board of Commissioners will hold public hearings Oct. 21 on the regional fire authority’s proposed budget, benefit charge and levies for 2026.

The board meeting begins at 7 p.m. at South County Fire Headquarters, 12425 Meridian Ave. S, Everett. Community members can attend in person or remotely using Zoom (Meeting ID 861 5293 4763) to learn more and provide comments. Zoom instructions can be found here: Getting Started with Zoom (PDF).

The proposed budget is available for review here.

This proposed budget takes action to meet the community’s growing needs while keeping taxpayer costs low, and shifts a slightly higher portion of funding onto the benefit charge instead of property taxes. The benefit charge provides a more fair way to fund emergency services because it’s based on a building’s size and risk instead of property value.

Overall, the 2026 funding proposal adds just over an estimated $7 per month to the average homeowner’s costs and includes the addition of 30 firefighters plus six administrative staff to preserve emergency services.

Here are other important facts about the budget:

• This budget proposes a property tax levy rate slightly less than in 2025: an estimated $1.15 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
• The benefit charge for the owner of a 2,000-square-foot-home would increase from $70.39 to $106.92, a difference of less than $37 for the entire year.
• South County Fire has kept property tax rate increases below the rate of inflation since the RFA was formed. The 2026 budget would keep South County Fire among the lowest cost emergency service providers in all of Snohomish County.

In addition to attending the budget, benefit charge and levy hearings in person or via Zoom, comments can also be submitted in advance by email or voicemail to Board of Commissioners Executive Assistant Melissa Blankenship, mblankenship@southsnofire.org, 425-551-1251.