Want to Argue For or Against the EMS Levy? Everett Needs Pro/Con Committee Volunteers by Tomorrow Night

How does Everett’s EMS levy Pro and Con committee process work? The City of Everett is recruiting volunteers to serve on Pro and Con committees that will write the official 250-word arguments for and against the August 4, 2026 EMS levy ballot measure. Applications close at 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 27, 2026. The City Council appoints committee members at the April 29, 2026 meeting. Statements are due to Snohomish County Elections by May 7, with rebuttals due May 11. Committee members’ names are printed in the local Voters’ Pamphlet alongside their statement.

If you have an opinion on Everett’s EMS levy and you want it printed in the official Voters’ Pamphlet that lands in every Everett mailbox before the August 4 primary, here’s the deal: the city needs your application by 11:59 p.m. tomorrow night, Monday, April 27, 2026.

This isn’t writing a letter to the editor. This is a statutory role. Under Washington State law (RCW 29A.32.280), when a jurisdiction puts a measure on the ballot, the city has to appoint a committee for and a committee against. Those committees draft the words voters read.

What this measure does and what’s at stake

The Everett City Council voted at its April 22, 2026 meeting to place an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) property tax levy lid lift on the August 4, 2026 primary ballot. If voters approve, the EMS levy rate would be restored from approximately $0.36 per $1,000 of assessed value back to $0.50 per $1,000 — the rate Everett voters originally approved in 2018.

For a typical home in Everett, restoration works out to roughly $5 to $8 per month. The city’s published yearly examples:

$450,000 home → +$63 per year
$575,000 home (the 2026 city average) → +$81 per year
$700,000 home → +$98 per year

EMS levy funding supports approximately 78 positions at the Everett Fire Department — the firefighter-paramedics and EMTs who answer the bulk of 911 calls. EMS calls made up about 82% of Everett Fire dispatches in 2025; the department responded to more than 25,700 total calls last year, an increase from 22,955 in 2018.

“Emergency medical services are a critical part of how we serve our Everett community every day,” Mayor Cassie Franklin said in the city’s April 22 press release announcing the ballot measure. “This measure provides our residents with the opportunity to sustain and support robust, high quality and timely emergency care as our community and service demand grows.”

That’s the city’s framing, and it is one side of the argument voters will see. The other side gets equal space in the pamphlet — and that side has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is the Con committee.

What a Pro or Con committee actually does

Per the city’s published process and Snohomish County Elections rules, here’s what you sign up for:

Write a 250-word-maximum statement. Pro committees argue for approval. Con committees argue for rejection. Word counts are strict — Snohomish County Elections enforces the limit.
Work independently from the City. Once appointed, committees operate without city involvement in the drafting. The city doesn’t review or edit your argument.
Optionally write a rebuttal. After the statements are filed, each committee can read the other side’s statement and write a shorter rebuttal.
Have your name printed in the local Voters’ Pamphlet alongside your statement. This is on-the-record civic participation, not anonymous.

The structure is meant to give voters a clean apples-to-apples view: the city’s neutral fiscal explainer, the proponents’ case, the opponents’ case, the rebuttals, and the official ballot title. People who want to fight this measure in print, and people who want to defend it in print, get the same number of words and the same distribution channel.

The deadline calendar — short and unforgiving

Snohomish County Elections runs a tight timeline. Miss any of these and you’re out:

Monday, April 27, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. — Application deadline to volunteer for either committee. Online application form. Late or incomplete applications are not accepted.
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 — Everett City Council appoints committee members at its meeting.
Friday, May 1, 2026 — City submits committee appointments to the Snohomish County Auditor.
Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. — Pro and Con statements (≤250 words each) due to Snohomish County Elections.
Monday, May 11, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. — Rebuttal statements due.

From sign-up to filed argument, you have about two weeks. Most of that two weeks is just waiting for council appointment and reading the opposing committee’s statement to draft your rebuttal.

Who gets picked and why

The application form goes to the City of Everett Fire Department, but the appointing body is the City Council. There’s no formal qualification beyond being an Everett resident willing to put your name to a public position on a ballot measure. In practice, councils often appoint people who have previously testified at council on related issues, who are active in neighborhood associations or relevant advocacy groups, or who have professional context for the question (a retired firefighter for the Pro committee, a tax-policy critic for the Con committee, for instance).

If both Pro and Con receive multiple qualified applicants, the council selects the committee that best represents the position. If a side receives zero applicants, the city is required to make an effort to find someone — but the statement may end up shorter, signed by fewer people, or in rare cases not filed at all. That last outcome leaves only the city’s neutral explainer and the ballot title in the pamphlet, which historically benefits the Pro side.

What the Con argument might look like

This is where the levy debate actually lands. The neutral case for “yes” is well documented in the city’s release: rising call volume, capped 1% revenue growth under state law, restoration of a previously voter-approved rate.

The case for “no” tends to draw from a few standard angles, each of which the Con committee would have 250 words to make:

Property tax fatigue. Everett homeowners are also weighing other levies, special districts, and a structural 2027 general fund deficit that has the city looking at additional revenue measures.
The 1% growth limit’s purpose. Initiative 747 (and subsequent legislation) was passed to constrain property tax growth on purpose. A lid lift is a vote to override that constraint.
Service-level questions. Whether the additional revenue is the only path to maintain the EMS service level, versus reallocation from other funds.
Scope of the levy lid lift. The temporary two-year structure (2027–2028) means the question will be back. Some voters object on principle to a recurring revenue lift.

None of these are the city’s framing. That’s the point. Pro/Con committees exist precisely because the neutral fiscal note can’t carry the political argument on its own.

What the Pro argument might look like

Likely framing for the Pro committee, which would also have 250 words:

Restoration, not increase. Voters previously approved $0.50 per $1,000 in 2018; the levy has been eroded by the 1% cap, not voted down.
Call volume math. 25,700 calls in 2025 versus 22,955 in 2018, with EMS as 82% of dispatches.
Cost in personal terms. About $5–$8 per month for the median Everett homeowner.
Direct connection to staffing. Approximately 78 firefighter-paramedic positions tied to the levy.
Quote from Fire Chief Dave DeMarco in the city release: “Our firefighters and EMS personnel respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to a wide range of emergencies, with the majority involving medical care. EMS funding supports the personnel, training, and equipment needed to respond effectively and provide care when it is needed.”

What residents should actually do

For the next 24 hours or so, the action item is concrete:

If you want to write the Pro or Con argument: apply by 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 27, 2026 at the city’s online form. To request accommodations, email communications@everettwa.gov.
If you want to watch the appointment vote: Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 12:30 p.m. council session, William E. Moore Historic City Hall / Police North Precinct, 3002 Wetmore Ave., or the council livestream on the city website.
If you want background on the levy itself: see the city’s EMS levy information page and the full April 22 city press release.
If you want to know more about how Pro/Con committees work in Snohomish County: the Snohomish County 2026 District Guide spells out the rules. For procedural questions, call Snohomish County Elections at (425) 388-3444.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I get paid to serve on a Pro or Con committee?
No. These are unpaid volunteer roles. The compensation, in a sense, is having your name printed alongside your argument in a document that gets mailed to every registered voter in Everett.

Can I serve on the Pro committee if I work for the city?
City employees and elected officials are typically excluded from these roles to keep the committees independent. The form will flag eligibility issues. If you’re unsure, the city’s communications office can clarify.

What if I want to argue against the levy but I’m not sure I can write a 250-word legal-style statement?
You can apply, get appointed, and work with the other committee members on drafting. The committee can include up to a small number of named members; the statement is collective.

What’s the difference between the local Voters’ Pamphlet statement and a campaign committee?
A campaign committee — a registered Political Action Committee (PAC) — raises money, runs ads, and reports to the Public Disclosure Commission. The Pro/Con committee under RCW 29A.32.280 is purely about writing the official statements that go into the pamphlet. You can do one, the other, or both.

What happens if no one applies for the Con committee?
The city has to keep trying to recruit. If a committee can’t be seated by the deadline, the pamphlet will run only the available statements, which historically benefits whichever side did organize. That’s a significant reason civic groups pay attention to these deadlines.

How is this levy different from the City Council’s other tax proposals?
This one is voter-decided in August. The 2027 general fund gap involves separate options the council has been discussing, including potential annexation, joining a Regional Fire Authority, library regionalization, and another levy lid lift. The August 4 EMS levy is its own ballot question; voters can support or oppose it independent of any other future measure.

If I miss the April 27 deadline, is there any other way to write into the official pamphlet?
Not for this measure cycle. The voter pamphlet statements are limited to the formally appointed Pro and Con committees. You can still write to the local newspapers, write to the council, or organize a campaign committee — but the words printed in the pamphlet next to the ballot title come from the committees only.

The bottom line for Everett

The August 4 EMS levy is going to the voters with or without volunteer committees. But the words those voters read in their official pamphlet are about to be written by a small number of Everett residents who decide, in the next 24 hours, to put their name on the page. If you have a position — for or against — the path to having that position printed in every Everett ballot envelope is open until 11:59 p.m. Monday.