Last week, commissioners of Vashon Island Fire & Rescue outlined the next steps to plan for the departure of Fire Chief Matt Vinci, who in late November announced he has accepted a new job as chief of Spokane County Fire District #9.

Vinci will leave the district no later than Feb. 1, he said at the Dec. 3 meeting, suggesting it could be a week or so earlier than that. The board did not name an interim chief that evening, instead agreeing to hold another special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, to further discuss the transition.

At the Dec. 3 meeting, Vinci was tasked with creating a transition document to be presented on Dec. 19 — work he said he has already begun. According to instructions by the board, this plan will not only include a detailed roadmap to projects already underway in the district, but also, Vinci’s input regarding interim executive leadership of the district.

“You are the person with the very best subject matter expertise on this, and I’d love to go from there,” said Commissioner Amy Drayer.

Board Chair Brigitte Schran Brown said that board commissioner Jim Whitney — who had attended an earlier executive session of the Dec. 3 meeting but had left before its public session began — would also present his thoughts about interim leadership at the Dec. 19 meeting.

Whitney is a fire and emergency medical services (EMS) professional with experience in tactical, operational, and administrative leadership.

Ben Davidson, a 16-year veteran of the district who has risen through the ranks from volunteer firefighter to his current position as deputy chief of the district, promised to work closely with Vinci and the board in the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition.

“I’ve had a long history at Vashon Fire, and I care about the personnel, the mission and the vision that we have, and the trajectory we’ve been on,” Davidson said. “More than anything, I want what’s best for the district. I want to continue to do the work we’ve been doing and stay on that trajectory. So as much as I can be a part of that, [in an] interim or permanent capacity, I am absolutely all in for that. My heart is what’s best for this community and this district.”

In discussing his impending departure, Vinci expressed strong confidence in the district’s current staff to carry on the work of VIFR.

“We have an amazing group of people here, and that’s what makes the district run every day,” he said. “It’s not about one individual, it’s about the team.”

He also thanked the public for its support of the district throughout this two-and-a-half-year term as chief: a time marked by the adoption of a new strategic plan for the district that saw increased staffing, new programs, and fleet and infrastructure improvements for VIFR.

2025 Budget

As commissioners continue to devise a plan for new leadership in the district, another document will help guide their steps: the 2025 budget for the district, passed unanimously by the board on Nov. 25.

In its bottom line, the new budget is strikingly similar to the 2024 budget, overtopping its matching revenue and expenditures by only $149,000.

However, with many goals of increasing staff and replacing aging apparatus in Vashon’s fleet largely accomplished in 2024, some priorities have shifted.

The new budget accounts for the completion of the currently ongoing major renovation of VIFR’s main fire station 55, on Bank Road, including the costs of furniture, necessary information technology (IT) upgrades and equipment, office equipment, and a fully equipped medical examination room for islanders who come to the station seeking emergency care. The renovation is now scheduled to be completed in June of 2025.

These and other capital expenditures, including $170,000 for remaining upgrades needed to VIFR’s fleet, account for approximately $3.3 million in the budget.

Continued training of personnel accounts for another $336,600. The district partners with South King County Training Consortium to provide comprehensive training for its firefighting staff, which in 2025 will expand to include water rescue classes, rope rescue technician courses, and wildland firefighting.

By the numbers

With revenues and expenses matching at approximately $13 million, the 2025 budget includes approximately $2.2 million in cash carried from the general fund from 2024. The budget calls, accordingly, for that $2.2 million to be carried over to 2026.

This carryover cash enables the district to fund operations until tax revenue from 2025 begins to arrive in its coffers.

Tax revenues of approximately $6.7 million, just up from close to $6.6 million in 2024, make up the largest share of the revenue of the budget.

However, VIFR’s tax revenue is notably augmented by $1.1 million in federal funding to be received in 2025.

These federal dollars most substantially include $760,000 coming from the Ground Emergency Medical Transportation (GEMT) program — providing supplemental payments to close the gap between the district’s actual costs and amounts received from transporting Medicaid patients.

Before 2023, the district had not participated in the program, despite its eligibility to do so.

In the past two years, $2.3 million has flowed into the district’s coffers from GMET — so the $760,000 projected for 2025 is a conservative projection, Fire Chief Matt Vinci said.

Additional federal dollars noted in the budget include approximately $276,000, representing the first installment of a three-year, $850,000 federal grant to cover all salaries and benefits for the district’s two most recent hires of career firefighters/EMTs.

Those hires fulfilled a key goal, outlined in the district’s 2023 strategic plan, to boost the district’s staff of career firefighters to 24, enabling six firefighters to serve on four revolving shifts.

The budget also projects receiving $97,124 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — part of a two-year grant VIFR received for fitness and wellness programs for its entire staff, including volunteers.

VIFR will receive $286,330 in King County levy funds for its Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) services. The budget also projects $50,823 in county levy funds for VIFR’s Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) program.

MIH, launched in February, provides home care for islanders, by appointment, with a wide variety of needs, including follow-up visits after surgery, wound care, fall prevention assessments, care for chronic conditions, and nutrition and wellness checks.

Total expenditures attributed to MIH in the budget are $204,000 — an amount that factors in the costs of a planned expansion of the program.

Currently operating two days a week, the program will, in January, expand to three days a week, staffed by one firefighter/EMT, two part-time registered nurses, one per-diem registered nurse, a part-time licensed independent clinical social worker, and a part-time physician’s assistant (PA)

The PA, working under the supervision of MIH’s medical director, Dr. Cameron Buck, will also be able to suture wounds, prescribe medicines, and perform other clinical services for islanders seeking walk-in care at the station.

Personnel costs detailed in the budget include compensation for VIFR’s chief and deputy chief at a combined total of $425,588 for those salaries, not including benefits.

The district’s three-person, full-time administrative staff will receive another $359,755 in salaries, not including benefits.

These salary expenditures for chief officers and administrators are comparable to those of other fire districts in the region, said Vinci.

Compensation for the district’s 24 uniformed firefighters is approximately $2.5 million, with overtime, cash-outs for leave, payroll taxes, medical insurance and retirement costs budgeted at another $1.1 million.

See VIFR’s complete 2025 budget at tinyurl.com/37w2b5d6.