The Everett City Council has voted to put an emergency medical services (EMS) levy lid lift in front of voters this summer, setting up a high-stakes decision on how the city funds its fire and ambulance response.
On Wednesday, April 22, 2026, the council approved sending the measure to the August primary ballot. If passed, the proposal would restore the EMS levy rate to $0.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. City officials say the money would be used to preserve staffing and response capacity at Everett Fire as call volumes and costs keep climbing. They are pitching it as a short-term move to maintain current service levels rather than a major overhaul.
City budget snapshot
To show what the numbers look like on paper, Everett’s 2026 property-tax packet lists the current EMS levy at roughly $0.36 per $1,000 and walks through sample bill calculations using the city’s estimated assessed values. According to the City of Everett, the packet lays out the EMS levy rate, the estimated levy revenue, and the average residential assessed value used to model homeowner impacts. Those baseline figures are what officials leaned on when projecting how a return to the $0.50 rate would hit typical households.
Election timing and state law
The lid-lift measure is scheduled to appear on the state primary ballot on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, the date listed on the statewide election calendar. Under Washington law, regular property-tax revenue growth is generally capped at about 1% per year, and recent changes in state statute have carved out a limited path for short, multi-year levy lid lifts. For a breakdown of how the new lift mechanics work, residents can look to Washington Secretary of State election materials and analysis from MRSC.
What officials say and what the money would fund
In a public update, the Everett Fire Department said the lid lift is meant to “help maintain response capabilities, staffing and the level of care provided to the community.” According to the department, current EMS levy dollars support about 78 positions. Crews transport an average of roughly 14 patients per day, and the department handled more than 25,700 calls in 2025.
The department’s post also spelled out sample impacts on tax bills. Restoring the levy to $0.50 per $1,000 is estimated to add about 5 to 8 dollars per month for a typical homeowner. Examples provided include an increase of approximately $63 per year for a home assessed at $450,000, about $81 per year for a $575,000 home, and around $98 per year for a $700,000 home. The same update reminded residents that qualifying seniors, veterans and people with disabilities may be eligible for property-tax exemptions, as described in the department’s Facebook post.
Background and past votes
This is not Everett’s first trip to the ballot box for EMS funding. Previous campaigns have highlighted how the city leans on EMS levy revenue to sustain medic units and transport operations, and earlier replacement levies have formed a key piece of the department’s financial puzzle. Local reporting and city documents dating back to 2018 point to rising call volumes and recurring budget pressure that helped drive those past levy requests and broader debates over long-term funding.
For residents looking to revisit the history, prior coverage of Everett’s EMS levies and call trends can be found at My Everett News and in earlier reporting from HeraldNet.
Next steps
The city says more details on the measure are coming, including updated sample tax calculations and information on public meetings, which will be posted on the official city website and social channels in the weeks ahead. Before ballots arrive, voters will also see the formal ballot language and an estimated fiscal impact laid out in the county voters’ pamphlet for the August election.
Residents who want to know whether they might qualify for property-tax relief can check Snohomish County’s guidance on exemptions, including programs for seniors, veterans and people with disabilities, on the assessor’s site here: Snohomish County Property-Tax Exemptions.
