By Robert Mittendorf
The Bellingham Herald
BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund warned of “significant” cuts in services if voters don’t allow the city to spin off the Bellingham Fire Department into a separate regional fire authority with its own taxing ability that could cost homeowners several hundred dollars annually.
Lund’s remarks came as she introduced the city’s preliminary budget for 2027, a $543 million spending plan that shows an $8 million deficit. The budget overview provided few details.
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“Our current levels of service are unsustainable without new revenues,” Lund said as she discussed the budget in the City Council Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday.
Removing the Fire Department’s budget could allow the city to offer more services such as expanded library hours and restore the Bellingham Police Department’s mothballed traffic division, Lund said. In 2026, the fire department’s budget was $60 million.
City officials described the 2027 budget as a “bridge” or “Plan A” spending plan without the savings provided by spinning off the fire department. “Plan B” would involve a minimum of 3% cuts.
An appointed panel has been studying how a fire authority would be formed and funded. Their report was published at the city’s website Monday. It recommends forming a fire authority with Whatcom County Fire District 8, which serves Lummi Nation, the Marietta community and surrounding rural areas. A full report on the fire authority is scheduled for the City Council’s Oct. 5 meeting.
Officials with the union that represents Bellingham firefighters said they are still considering the plan.
“IAFF Local 106 continues to evaluate the RFA plan with assistance from the leadership of the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters. We remain committed to serving as a collaborative partner in addressing gaps in public safety services where appropriate,” union Vice-President Hunter Elliott told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Such a Bellingham Regional Fire Authority would be governed by an elected five-member board of commissioners.
To fund the fire authority, the report proposes a new property tax of $1 for every $1,000 of assessed valuation, or about $600 a year for the owner of a median-priced home. There would also be an unspecified “fire benefit charge” that would vary by the size of each home, according to a video produced by the city.
City officials said Monday that an election to form the new fire authority could be held as early as February. Approval would require a supermajority of 60% of the voters in Bellingham and District 8 , according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting.
Bellingham considered such a fire authority in 2017, but the plan didn’t advance. Bellingham Fire has been providing fire and emergency medical services to the residents of District 8 under a cooperative agreement since 2016. Bellingham firefighters staff District 8’s Station 31 in Marietta and Station 34 at Gooseberry Point on the Lummi Peninsula.
The concept of a fire authority has been growing as the cost of firefighting and emergency medical care keeps rising, and fewer people have the time to serve as volunteer firefighters, according to the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington.
Elsewhere in Washington, and especially in suburban Seattle, fire authorities serve several cities that share training, resources and expenses.
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