Woodland City Council made good on a promise to reduce the amount of property tax residents pay in the city following strong approval for annexation last year into what’s now known as Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue.
During its Nov. 15 meeting, the council voted on both an ordinance and resolution making the drop in property tax official. The decrease in tax equals about $1.51 per $1,000 of assessed value, bringing the city’s rate for 2022 to about 85 cents per $1,000.
The reduction in the levy was conceived as a way to swap the levy amounts once the city became formally annexed by the district. Put up for a vote in August 2020, the measure passed by about 77.6% in the existing district and about 73.3% in the city. The decrease is similar to the current rate for Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue at $1.49 per $1,000 of assessed value, according to the Clark County Treasurer’s office, which residents will pay starting next year.
Woodland originally began contracting with CCFR for fire services in 2013, agreeing to a 25-year contract four years later. The property tax rate in the district was roughly the same as what the city was paying to contract out services before it was annexed.
Prior to the leadup to the annexation vote, CCFR Chief John Nohr explained annexations and mergers have been a trend regionally and across the country. The annexation also allows city residents to run for the district’s board of commissioners where they can make decisions on how the fire district operates.
The Woodland council officially agreed to drop its own rate when it approved the annexation measure on the ballot in March 2020. Due to the timing of the vote that year, the annexation wasn’t official until Jan. 1, 2022, Nohr said following the vote.
Prior to that official change, the fire department had already embraced the oncoming annexation. It has changed its name from Clark County Fire and Rescue to Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue in acknowledgement of officially bringing the largely Cowlitz County-based city into the fold.
Though discussion at the Nov. 15 approval was limited among councilmembers, they acknowledged they were keeping their word.
“We said we were going to do this when this (annexation) happened and so I think we should,” said Councilor Carol Rounds.
