Talk about holding a gun to your own head.

The City of DuPont finds itself in a fix, and it’s one that is almost entirely of city officials’ making. Either voters approve a costly, flawed six-year property tax levy lid lift next month, or the city will drop ambulance services.

For DuPont residents, the decision really comes down to one question: How much do they trust their elected officials?

Certainly, the bungling that has gotten DuPont into this predicament doesn’t do much to instill confidence.

This crisis has been years in the making, as fire services have gradually consumed a greater portion of the city’s budget. Today, one in three general fund dollars goes to provide around-the-clock firefighting and emergency medical services – an unsustainable diversion of tax dollars.

Complicating matters, the growing city can’t keep firefighters. High turnover and slim pickings for new recruits prompted the city earlier this year to enter into an emergency agreement with the Lakewood Fire Department.

Under that contract, the city estimates its costs for fire services will rise to $3 million next year, almost half of the city’s general fund budget.

The DuPont City Council, looking for ways to come up with dollars, decided to ask voters for a six-year increase in the city’s property tax. But the council aimed too high.

Instead of trying to relieve just some of the pressure fire services are putting on the general fund, the council shot for the moon. It proposed to shift the burden for nearly all fire expenses to the new taxes. The result was a ballot measure asking for a stunning 180 percent increase in the city’s property tax rate.

The city’s strategy was certainly bold; it also was possibly illegal. State law prohibits cities from asking for a levy lid lift for a specific purpose and then using the extra taxes to supplant existing funds used for that purpose. In other words, if DuPont’s tax measure brought in an extra $2.6 million, every dime would need to go to new expenses.

The City Council has reconsidered, recently passing a resolution stating its intent to assess only some of the authorized tax – somewhere between 32 and 96 cents of the allowed $1.80 tax rate (per $1,000 of assessed property value).

That’s cold comfort for taxpayers, who already are facing uncertain economic times. The tax measure could end up costing them $400,000 next year or $1.2 million – or perhaps more if the city finds a way to categorize existing services as new.

But given the alternative, voters have little choice but to hold their nose and vote for this stinker. The city clearly can’t continue letting the fire department drain the general fund without crippling cuts to other city services. It will be forced to pare back advanced life support, leaving DuPont residents at the mercy of distant private ambulance providers.

The long-term answer might be annexation to the Lakewood Fire Department (which charges its residents $2.37 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for general operating expenses). We recommend voters approve the levy for fire services, and then demand accountability from the council – not just for how it spends the money but also for developing a better plan for protecting the city.

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