Black Diamond could be joining Kent-based Puget Sound Fire

Published 1:40 pm Tuesday, August 11, 2026

It appears Black Diamond has approved a proposal on the Aug. 4 primary ballot to annex their city into the Kent-based Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority’s emergency response district.

The decision to annex is the latest in a series of events in a years-long discussion about emergency services and how they’re funded.

As of Aug. 10, roughly 53% of voters who cast a vote approved this measure with 47% against.

The election will not be certified until Aug. 18, but based on past election data and voter participation rates, it’s highly unlikely the vote will be flipped in the next several days.

“While the election won’t be certified for a couple of weeks, the initial results are certainly encouraging, and I’m grateful to all the residents of Black Diamond who made their voices heard, whether they voted in favor or against,” Mayor John Adler said in a statement. “…If the results hold, there will be time to thoughtfully work through the next steps of the transition. Until then, Mountain View Fire & Rescue remains our fire department, and I look forward to continuing to work with them while simultaneously strengthening our partnership with Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority.”

Adler also thanked Mountain View Fire and Rescue for its two decades of service to the city.

“This vote was never a reflection of the professionalism or commitment of the firefighters who have answered our calls and cared for our residents all these years,” he added.

Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority declined to comment until the election is finalized.

The annexation is required to be complete by Jan. 1, 2028, when Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority crews will replace Mountain View Fire and Rescue first responders in Station 98 near Lake Sawyer, and also occupy the new station near the police station.

New property taxes

Being annexed into the Regional Fire Authority’s district come with a new property tax and separate “fire benefit charge.”

The new tax adds $1 per $1,000 in assessed property value to annual tax bills. For someone who owns a $600,000 home, that comes out to an additional $600 in property taxes a year.

But there’s also a “fire benefit charge,” which is not a government tax but a fee set by the Regional Fire Authority.

The department has described the fire benefit charge as a “shock absorber,” as it is not affected by rising or falling levy rates or assessed property value levels.

The fire benefit charge is calculated based on building size, risk, and resources necessary to respond to a fire at a particular location. This means that two similarly-sized homes, even if their APVs are vastly different, would have a similar fire benefit charge.

Calculations provided by the Regional Fire Authority showed that past fire benefit charges required single-family homes to pay the equivalent of $1.40 to $1.45 per $1,000 in APV.

The area’s current total levy rate, including library, school, county, and other property taxes, is $8.35. For a property owner with $600,000 APV, that’s a tax bill of just over $5,000 a year.

‘Double dipping’?

Opponents to the annexation pointed out in days leading up to the election that the city’s property taxes, previously used in part to pay Mountain View Fire and Rescue for its emergency services via contract, will remain the same at $1.33 per $1,000 in APV.

“The city has said it will keep the money it already collects for fire and emergency services and use it for other things,” the opposing statement for Prop. 1 in the King County Voter’s Guide reads. “This means taxpayers would pay twice for services we already fund.”

Some have suggested that the council lower its property tax rate to mitigate the increase in overall property taxes that will hit local wallets with the annexation.

The city paid $1.3 million for Mountain View’s contract in 2025, roughly 40% the property taxes collected that year.

Though no decisions have been made, Adler has suggested using those freed up funds to potentially invest in public safety and the Black Diamond Police Department, fund and improve the city’s parks department, build critical infrastructure around the city, or build up reserves.

Some history

Mountain View Fire and Rescue has been Black Diamond’s contracted emergency services provider since 2006.

However, the fire department in 2019 said it would not renew its contract with the city, saying the cost of providing services were not being covered by the city’s payments.

The city and MVFR agreed to a contract with additional funds, but after five years, the department again alerted city officials that it would not renew its contract in 2028 for the same reasons — and this time, a revised contract would not do; only annexation.

After failing to find another department for the city to contract with, Black Diamond had two options left: form its own fire department, or find a department willing to annex the city into its district.

Mountain View and the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority were the only two departments to respond to the city’s inquiry into possible annexation partners.

After extensive lobbying from both departments, the city council voted 4-3 to work with the Regional Fire Authority and be annexed into its district.

Puget Sound Fire covers the cities of Kent, Covington, Maple Valley, SeaTac and Tukwila and the unincorporated areas of King County Fire District 37 and King County Fire District 43.