NORTH KITSAP — North Kitsap voters supported two ballot propositions to fund local fire and rescue services Nov. 4.

Residents of the North Kitsap Fire and Rescue fire protection district voted 3,017 to 1,531 in favor of a property tax levy to support maintenance and operations.

“This levy will provide us with the funding we need to maintain current levels of service,” North Kitsap Fire & Rescue spokeswoman Michele Laboda said.

The levy will raise $600,000 for four years. Each property owner will contribute 25 cents extra per $1,000 of assessed property value. The district will begin collecting the tax funds in 2015, until 2018.

Property taxes provide the bulk of funding for the fire district, and revenues fell with assessed property values while costs of operation are on the rise, Laboda said.

“We’ve been doing what we can to get by,” she said. “Employees’ wages have been frozen, employees have taken greater responsibility for the cost of health insurance premiums, administrative positions have been left vacant — increasing the workload of other members – [and] the district’s leaders have deferred needed capital purchases and much more.”

Scott Henden of the committee against the measure authored the ballot argument opposing the levy. He argued that the fire district should learn to operate under “new normal” funding levels, and that it should slim down on employees such as the public relations officer or office staff.

Laboda countered, “We’ve been adapting to the ‘new normal’ since the economy took a dive in 2008. Our administrative staff, already much leaner than it used to be, is vital to supporting our core functions. We cannot indefinitely maintain current levels of service with less funding.

“In short, the ‘new normal’ doesn’t support current levels of service.”

North Kitsap Fire & Rescue serves an estimated population of 18,418 in about 47 square miles. It employs 45 people.

Voters of the Poulsbo’s Fire Department fire protection district voted 3,941 to 1,877 in favor of a $2,745,000 five-year bond.

In the hours leading up to the Nov. 4 election results, the feeling around the Poulsbo Fire Department was “cautiously optimistic,” according to Poulsbo Fire Department spokeswoman Jody Matson.

“We really haven’t heard any negative feedback and we are very grateful to have such strong support from our community,” she said.

The bond will cost homeowners 19 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, or approximately $67 per year for a house valued at $350,000.

“This bond is very important because it would provide funding to fix much needed repairs to facilities and equipment,” Matson said.

No arguments of opposition were filed with the Kitsap County auditor. Poulsbo’s fire district cited its own funding losses in recent years as a need for the bond which will update equipment and complete projects such as installing an emergency generator for one fire station, as well as replace the roof for another.

The bond will also fund the upgrade of two engines that are beyond service life. The fire district was forced to shuffle engines in December 2013 when one broke down — and towed to Tacoma for repairs — and an older model was brought in to substitute.

“Most of our fire engines are around 20 years old and that is beyond the recommended life span for a fire engine,” Matson said.