Oak Harbor voters will decide in November whether to raise property taxes in order to fund a second fire station and the equipment and staff to go with it.

Following a presentation by Fire Chief Ray Merrill Wednesday that included results of public surveys, members of the Oak Harbor City Council unanimously voted to place two ballot measures on the Nov. 8 general election that would raise a total of nearly $2.4 million a year.

One of the measures is a levy lid lift, which would fund additional staffing, operations and equipment at the new station, as well as a replacement fire engine. A levy lid lift requires a simple majority vote to pass.

The other measure is an excess levy, which would pay for the station and a quint truck, which is an apparatus that combines capabilities of an engine and ladder truck. It would require a supermajority of 60% to pass.

If the measures pass, the owner of a $331,000 house, the average assessed value in the city, would pay an extra $313 a year.

Merrill has been advocating for years for the construction of a fire station in the southwest area of the city. As a result of growth and development in that section of the city, the time it takes for firefighters and their equipment to get to the area from the East Whidbey Avenue station has increased.

“This is the furthest we’ve ever gotten in this discussion,” he said.

During his presentation, Merrill explained that the need for a second fire station was first identified in a 2006 strategic plan. A 2016 analysis determined that 24% of Oak Harbor homes are not within the recommended standard of a 1.5 mile radius or a four-minute response time; continued growth in the area since then means that even more homes are outside the radius.

The “ideal location” for a satellite station would be on the corner of Swantown Road and Heller Road or in that area, Merrill said.

“Some of our equipment that we utilize today is 20 to 25 years old,” Merrill said. “It’s well past its lifetime and it’s time to replace it.”

Merrill discussed the community outreach that the fire department has done, including open house events and the Holland Happening Festival. The department also offered a feedback form and took public comments, as well as conducting a survey that received 147 replies with 82% positive feedback in support of the fire service levy.

“Finance was the top reason that it wasn’t supported,” Merrill said. “People said they could not afford what the levy and the bond was potentially going to cost.”

Merrill said he sympathized with people who said that and also pointed out that that the fire department has not “gone to the public in 30 years asking for any money.”

For Oak Harbor residents, only 17% of their total property tax bill goes toward city government.

In public comments, some people asked about the possibility of combining Oak Harbor Fire and North Whidbey Fire. In order to do that, the chief explained, a regional fire authority would have to be created and voted on by residents of both Oak Harbor and North Whidbey.

“It may be something to consider long-range from now, but I don’t think we’re at the point today to combine those services together,” Merrill said. “Now that doesn’t mean we don’t utilize North Whidbey and they utilize us for mutual aid events and auto-aid areas.”

Oak Harbor has 0.65 firefighters per 1,000 population, while comparable cities have 1.25 firefighters per 1,000 people.

“This morning we had four calls simultaneously and we were sending one person to a call,” Merrill said.

All of the members of the Oak Harbor council were in favor of putting the measures on the ballot and letting voters decide.

“Very few votes that we ever take up here will potentially save lives,” Councilmember Shane Hoffmire said. “This is one of those things that in time certainly will.”