POULSBO — Poulsbo Fire commissioners are scheduled Wednesday, Nov. 11, to adopt a 2027 budget that spends nearly $18 million from the district’s general fund and sets aside $1.4 million for a new medic unit and a new fire engine.
The board, which governs Kitsap County Fire District 18, will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget, then vote on resolutions setting the district’s fire levy, EMS levy and excess levy and adopting the general fund budget, according to the meeting agenda.
A budget balanced to the dollar — almost
The draft budget projects $17,983,485 in general fund revenue and $17,982,714 in spending, leaving a margin of $771.
Property taxes make up most of the money: $15.05 million. The district also expects $1.15 million from ambulance transport fees and $700,000 from GEMT, a program that reimburses ambulance transports of Medicaid patients.
The district’s CARES program, which sends staff to help people in behavioral-health or social-service crises, is budgeted to bring in $573,000 from outside sources. That includes $375,000 from Kitsap County’s one-tenth-of-1% mental health sales tax, $108,000 for street medicine, $70,000 in cost sharing from other fire districts and $20,000 in behavioral-health money passed through the county.
Wages and benefits are the biggest expense. The budget includes $10.98 million in salaries and wages, including $988,775 in overtime, and $3.86 million in benefits, about $14.8 million in all. The draft does not include a staffing count or a comparison with 2026, so it doesn’t show whether the district is adding positions.
The general fund also carries a $345,936 contingency and transfers $285,000 to pay debt and $55,000 to the district’s operating reserve.
Vehicles and bond money
A separate capital projects account budgets $415,000 for a new medic unit and $990,000 for a new E-One fire engine. An “engine purchase” is also listed as an informational item on Wednesday’s agenda.
That account also shows $7.64 million in proceeds from a capital bond. The agenda does not include any resolution authorizing new borrowing, and the budget documents do not say what the bond money would pay for.
Across all six district funds, the draft budget shows $26.6 million in revenue and $20 million in spending. That total counts about $665,000 that moves from one district fund to another, so it overstates what the district actually spends.
Levy amounts not yet posted
The agenda lists the three levy resolutions by number, 26-12 through 26-14, but the posted materials don’t include their text, and the dollar amounts the district will ask the county to collect aren’t public yet.
Commissioners are also set to act on a project management contract with The Rock, an interlocal agreement with North Kitsap Fire & Rescue and Bainbridge Island Fire Department on the CARES program, and a fire impact fee agreement. Those documents were not posted with the agenda.
How to attend
The board meets at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Station 71, 911 NE Liberty Road, Poulsbo, and on Zoom at us02web.zoom.us/j/82406087361 (meeting ID 824 0608 7361). The district’s hearing notice invites any interested person to speak on the budget. Public comment is limited to three minutes unless the board allows more.
The agenda and draft budget are posted at poulsbofire.org/fire-commissioners.
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