Union City Council passes resolution raising fee for fire and EMS services for first time in 11 years

DICK MASON, The Observer, La Grande, Ore.
·3 min read

UNION — The city of Union may raise the fee it charges for fire protection and emergency medical services for the first time in more than a decade years.

The Union City Council passed a resolution on Monday, April 8, raising the fee charged to residential and business units for fire and emergency medical services from $10 a month to $16 a month. Should it take effect, it would represent the first fee increase for fire and EMS services since 2013, Union City Administrator Celeste Tate told the council.

“The fee has not been raised for 11 years,” Tate said before the council voted 5-0 for the increase.

The increase is necessary because of rising costs and the need for the Union Fire Department to purchase new equipment, Tate said.

The fee increase will take effect only if voters reject Measure 31-120 in the May 21 primary election. Measure 31-120 would allow the Union Fire Department to be annexed by the Union Rural Fire Department.

An annexation would change how fire and EMS services are funded in a big way. The city now funds and operates the Union Fire Department. Funds for its fire service are provided through a $10 fee all residential and business units who receive utility service are charged each month. The Union Rural Fire Department, however, receives its funding from its taxing district and operates under the guidance of the district’s elected board.

If Measure 31-120 passes, the city fee would go away and a new property tax would determine how much people pay for the service. The property tax rate would be $1.2292 per $1,000 of assessed property value, the same rate property owners living within the Union Rural Fire Department’s district now pay. The owner of a home in the district with an assessed value of $200,000 now pays $245.84 in property taxes a year for fire and emergency medical services.

The Union City Council voted to boost the city’s fire and EMS fee so it will have the funds needed to effectively operate the fire department if Measure 31-120 is rejected.

“This will only come into play if the proposed annexation does not pass,” Tate said. “We need to be ready to support our fire and EMS services and be prepared to purchase new equipment if necessary.”

The fee increase will take effect July 1 if voters reject the proposed annexation.

Measure 31-120 is very similar to Measure 31-118, a fire department annexation measure that Union voters passed, 378-163, in the August 2023 mail election. Measure 31-118 failed, though, because voter turnout was well shy of what is required for a 50% plus one majority. The Oregon Constitution requires double majorities for property tax elections that take place outside of May or November.

In the May 21 election, if a majority of voters cast ballots in support of Measure 31-120, it will pass regardless of the turnout, according to Union County Clerk Lisa Feik.