Valley Record SNOQUALMIE
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2015 n DAILY UPDATES AT WWW.VALLEYRECORD.COM n 75 CENTS
1021 S YEAR
Reading path Parent-child reading workshops make a game of learning By EVAN PAPPAS
NEWS
Staff Reporter
City Councilmen honored at end of terms Page 2
Reading is an essential skill, but it doesn’t come easy to everyone. Children who struggle are often frustrated and learn to dislike reading. This year, the Snoqualmie Valley School District has revamped its reading workshop to include both parents and children in order to help foster a love of reading and learning. Janice Formisano, Title I program specialist for reading and math intervention in the Snoqualmie Valley School District, runs workshops throughout the year at all of the Valley elementary schools to help kids and parents find ways to promote reading.
HOLIDAY
SEE READING, 7
Cascade View students do the holidays internationalstyle Page 9
INDEX Puzzles Blotter Schools Classifieds Calendar
5 6 7 12-14 15
Vol. 102, No. 31
Evan Pappas/Staff Photo
Josh Matson shows his son Aiden the next word along the sight-reading path during a Dec. 8 parent-child reading workshop hosted by the Snoqualmie Valley School District Dec. 8 at Opstad Elementary School. Reading workshops will be offered at all elementary schools again in May.
Fire districts consider combining By SVR Staff
North Bend and Carnation-area residents may be asked to consider combining their fire protection districts early next year. Officials with Fire District 38, covering unincorporated parts of North Bend, and Fire District 10, covering unincorporated Carnation, are discussing a merger of the two districts to keep costs down and maintain their service levels. “It’s a question of sustainability,” said Fire Authority Planning Chair Mike Mitchell. “Working together as one fire authority would stabilize funding for emergency services and is more efficient for taxpayers in both fire districts.”
The Regional Fire Authority is the group that, with representatives from districts 10 and 38, has been examining the possibilities of the merger and planning a series of public meetings in February to get voters in both areas on board. Mitchell, also a Fire District 10 commissioner, said the district has considered and abandoned various merger ideas over the years, but the possibility of combining districts 10 and 38, both part of the regional Eastside Fire and Rescue partnership, became a discussion topic in early 2015. “We just started this, this year,” said Mitchell in a phone conversation with the Record. “The districts are shrinking with annexations from the cities, and as we each become smaller, there’s an economy of scale for us to combine.” Fire District 10 covers covering 129 square miles and about 30,000 people. Fire District 38 covers 24 miles and about 10,000 people. Under the combined fire authority, funding for emergency services would come primarily from a fire protection levy of $1 per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. Additional revenue would
come from a fire benefit charge, something district 10 has already implemented, but 38 has not. The fire benefit charge is an additional property tax, established by district boards through a public process and approved by voters every six years. The benefit charge is exempt from the $5.90 per thousand maximum tax rate allowed by the state, and not directly related to the property’s assessed value. Smaller structures (such as singlefamily homes) are charged less than larger buildings because it costs less to defend them in a fire. “There are different rates for different types of structures,” Mitchell said. The fire authority would develop its benefit charge based on Fire District 10’s formula, considered successful since voters overwhelmingly approved renewing the charge in the November general election. In 2015, the owner of a 2,500 square-foot home with a two-car garage paid $216.89. All property owners have the right to appeal their assessments. SEE COMBINING, 3
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