This bill modifies existing law to allow a city or town legislative authority, by resolution and subject to voter approval at a general election, to create a fire protection district with boundaries identical to the city or town. The resolution must include a financing plan specifying the dollar amount of the district’s first-year regular property tax levies, and for districts formed before July 1, 2026, must state a reduced “highest lawful levy” for the city that will be used for later levy limit calculations. The financing plan must estimate the aggregate net dollar impact on property owners, and if it proposes an initial benefit charge it must comply with chapter 52.18 RCW. The bill sets notice and public hearing publication requirements, requires voter approval by a simple majority (or 60 percent if an initial benefit charge is proposed), and directs county officials to conduct the election and, if approved, declare the district organized. The bill creates procedural rules for the transfer of powers, assets, personnel, contracts, and appropriations from the city or town fire department to the newly formed fire protection district on its creation date. It requires the city or town to transfer reports, records, real and personal property, funds, and to credit existing appropriations to the district. Employees transfer to the district subject to collective bargaining, retaining at least prior compensation and accrued benefits and recognizing completed probationary periods; existing bargaining agreements remain in force until lawfully modified, and the parties must negotiate civil service matters if applicable. The chapter does not alter municipal airport fire departments, and it allows contracts between districts and cities for administrative services. The bill also amends property tax law (RCW 84.52.043 and 84.52.125) to specify regular ad valorem levy limits for certain named taxing districts, to set an aggregate limit of $5.90 per $1,000 assessed value for combined junior and senior district levies (with a long list of statutory exemptions), and to permit a fire protection district or regional fire protection service authority to protect up to $0.25 per $1,000 of assessed value of certain levies outside the $5.90 limit to avoid proration under RCW 84.52.010(3)(b). The bill also authorizes a conditional county levy increase under specified combined-levy limits. Section 4 of the act expires January 1, 2027, and Section 5 takes effect January 1, 2027. The provided material is incomplete in places: the amendment to RCW 84.55.092 is cut off and some cited amendments and the bill’s full effective or expiration dates are not included, and two similar amendments to RCW 84.52.043 appear without clear context or explanation of differences.

If enacted, cities and towns could ask voters to turn their municipal fire department into a separate fire protection district that has the power to collect its own regular levies and take over fire and emergency services, property, contracts, funds, and the department’s employees (who would keep their pay and accrued benefits). For residents this will likely mean a reallocation of property tax bills: the city must reduce its general levy by the district’s levy amount in the first year (for districts formed before July 1, 2026) and the financing plan presented to voters must estimate the net dollar impact on property owners, so taxpayers will see taxes shift from the city to the new district rather than an immediate new combined increase. Fire departments, employees, and collective bargaining units would move to the district, with negotiations about civil service and other arrangements required in some cases; some implementation details and timing in the bill text are incomplete or unclear. The bill also changes how much different local governments can levy and sets a $5.90 per $1,000 aggregate cap for many combined levies while listing numerous exemptions; it specifies numeric levy rates for counties, roads, and cities, allows a conditional county levy increase under limits, and lets fire protection districts protect up to $0.25 per $1,000 of certain levies from proration, which reduces the risk that those fire levies would be cut back in proration events. Practically, this narrows or clarifies taxing authority and could limit or shift revenue options for counties, cities, and junior taxing districts while giving fire districts a small protected revenue stream; the statute includes transitional dates (different rules before and after July 1, 2026, and provisions that expire or take effect on January 1, 2027) and some portions of the amendment text are incomplete in the available extracts, leaving some implementation details uncertain.