Mukilteo residents have some tough decisions to make in the coming months, as more information comes out about the future of EMS and the cost of providing it.

One thing is certain: voters will face a levy in the fall. How much that is and whether a bond for vehicle replacement will accompany it hinge on input from upcoming town hall meetings, the first most likely in April.

"One of our goals is to keep truing up our costs," finance director Scott James said. "We need to give our vehicle replacement schedule a really good scrubbing; it hasn't had one since I've been here."

James and Fire Chief Michael Springer are evaluating those projected costs, along with the condition of current vehicles, he said.

The city hasn't faced significant big-ticket EMS expenses since 1992, when it purchased two pumper trucks at $275,500 and $282,500, a Spartan pumper engine at $338,100 and the ladder truck at $618.500.

Those are due for replacement in 2012, estimated at $607,500 each for the pumpers, $725,800 for the Spartan and $1,368,000 for the ladder.

Also lurking on the horizon are $28,000 for a new command vehicle in 2001, replacing one purchased in 1991, and an E-350 ambulance at $247,200, replacing one purchased in 1998.

"Some cities do a bond (for large vehicle replacement); we think it makes sense to have an equipment replacement fund," Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine said. "We know these are coming; this isn't an emergency."

Marine compared it to Washington State Ferries suddenly having to pull four of its boats out of service without having funds with which to replace them.

"Are you kidding?" he said. "That was just poor planning. No one thought to have a replacement fund for them?"

In previous years, money from the general fund supplemented the EMS and fire budgets. James said he is transitioning the city to true cost accounting, where each item has a specific price and residents know exactly where their tax dollars are going.

Most EMS and firefighting vehicles are on a 20-year replacement schedule, Chief Springer said.

The first 10 of those years, a rig is on the front line, responding first to any calls. Its remaining 10 years, it's on reserve, brought out for multiple response incidences and when the department responds to simultaneous calls.

Is a bond inevitable this time around? Not quite, Springer said; that hasn't been decided yet.

A bond wouldn't be a first for Mukilteo EMS and fire service - bonds issued in 1992 paid for the Old Town and Harbour Pointe stations, the training tower and the fire vehicles. The city paid those bonds off several years ago, Springer said.

The past three years, the city set aside $44,700 annually for replacement. The working EMS budget (James said the numbers aren't final and will depend upon feedback from residents) skips that allotment in 2010, ramping up significantly beginning in 2011 at $177,625 annually.

"We expect the economy to pick up by then," James said of skipping the 2010 allotment.

Starting in 2014, that number gradually drops, evening out at around $116,720 in 2015. Those numbers assume 5 percent of the total operations cost each year, James said, and also assume the levy passing at 49 cents per $1,000 assessed value.

For the owner of an average $417,300 Mukilteo home, that amounts to $206.52, up from the current $95.99, which expires at the end of 2010. If voters turn down both levy attempts and a bond, that amount drops to zero.

It also means the city would have to make some hard choices, Marine said.

"Our property taxes are already the lowest in the county," he said. "I don't believe we can provide the level of service our citizens need and expect without this."

The city kept its promise with the current levy, staffing both stations around the clock and ramping up staffing levels to be able to participate in automatic aid with other jurisdictions, he said.

"There's greater public safety in Mukilteo right now, and I think our citizens will respond in kind," Marine said.

The city tentatively plans to put the levy on the Aug. 17 primary ballot, signing up also for the November general election as insurance.  Marine emphasized he's confident citizens will approve a levy at some rate. 

Should the levy pass the first time around, the city has until the day before the election is certified to pull it off the November ballot and not incur any expenses.

Another option is the 1 percent property tax increase the city could impose without asking voters.