There is a lot of deception going on here.
First, they are claiming that the inner workings of the fire benefit charge are a "proprietary" software model owned by the consultant. To date, they have refused to share the computer model that calculates the charges for each property.
Second, it's a reverse-Robin Hood structure. Smaller homes pay a higher fee per square foot that larger, as opposed to a property tax that changes with the value (and size is a determinant of value). Smaller business pay a higher fee per square foot than larger businesses. This is the "square root" element, something I've never seen in any sort of tax or fee calculation. It's clearly designed to make passage easier, because the rich people in big homes are more likely to donate to a campaign to defeat passage of the RFA.
Third, as the article mentions, while local property taxes are deductible from income in computing federal income tax payments, the "fee" would not be.
But there are even more seditious elements of this. It appears that this proposal, if approved, would cause a sharp decrease in Olympia's funding for parks and open space, because it would reduce the property tax that Olympia receives (transferring that to the RFA). Parks currently gets 11% of the property tax revenue in Olympia. It would become 11% of a much smaller number.
And not a bit of mention about how the asserted improved efficiencies of a larger, two-city agency would save money or improve service quality. That's the only justification for a new entity and higher taxes and fees.
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