South Whidbey residents will soon have the opportunity to weigh in on a proposed fire levy lid lift.

Two upcoming public meetings scheduled for 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 20 and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 23 will provide more information about the measure, which will appear on the Aug. 6 primary election ballot.

The first meeting is at Station 32 in Clinton and the second is at Station 36 in Langley.

In order to decrease call times, replace aging equipment and hire full-time personnel, South Whidbey Fire/EMS is asking voters to approve a 39-cent lid lift, which would raise the levy rate to $1.20 per $1,000 of assessed property value. For the owner of a $600,000 home, this amounts to an additional $19.50 per month.

Voters last approved a fire levy rate of 95 cents in 2021, but rising property values have compressed it to just 81 cents.

“From time to time, we must ask voters to reset our fire levy to keep up with rising costs to provide service,” Fire Chief Nick Walsh said in a press release from South Whidbey Fire/EMS. “The additional revenue will fund critical improvements to decrease our response times and improve service reliability districtwide.”