Washington voters this November will be asked to weigh in on a bevy of ballot measures, including six initiatives, two advisory votes and an amendment to the state constitution.

Federal Way voters will have two additional measures to consider: South King Fire and Rescue Proposition No. 1 and Sound Transit Proposition 1, better known as ST3. The Editorial Board of the Mirror recommends they choose Yes on South King Fire and Rescue Proposition No. 1 and Reject Sound Transit Proposition 1.

South King Fire and Rescue, Federal Way’s longtime fire and emergency services provider, funds its operations like many local service providers – through property taxes. Such a mechanism works well in times of economic prosperity but starves its dependents in lean times, and Federal Way (and the country as a whole) is still emerging from the lean times foisted on it in 2008.

Such situations are exactly why levies exist, and South King Fire and Rescue leaders should be commended for what they’ve done since the start of the Great Recession and for how they’re respecting taxpayer dollars now: This four-year levy would replace the previous levy, which raised $3.5 million per year and is expiring after its own four years, with one that looks to raise $2.75 million per year. That, of course, is a lessened tax bill that only “costs” taxpayers a still-exemplary local fire department.

This levy has the Mirror’s firm support, but it does come with a caveat that must accompany any proposed levy: Such measures are not intended to be permanent funding sources, and the Great Recession has been officially over for seven years now. Taxpayers can only be amenable to these fixes for so long.

South King Fire and Rescue Chief Al Church, to his credit, is aware of that fact and has expressed his hope that this will be the final levy his department needs to request. Should they arise anyway, future levies can be dealt with in the future; for this one, the Mirror recommends you vote Yes on South King Fire and Rescue Proposition No. 1.

Sound Transit Proposition 1, better known as ST3, shows an amount of respect for taxpayers’ wallets that’s the precise inverse of the respect the fire levy displays. An impressive plan on paper, ST3 would add 62 miles of light rail – 13 of it here in Federal Way – to complete a 116-mile transportation system connecting the Puget Sound region from just south of Lakewood and up to Everett.

Regional mass transit is, in the broadest sense, a good idea that the Mirror supports. But ST3 is a specific idea that will cost taxpayers $54 billion – that’s a ‘B,’ not an ‘M’; nine zeroes, not six. Those funds would come out of new sales taxes, higher vehicle taxes and increased property taxes, and Federal Wayans wouldn’t even get to utilize ST3 until 2024.

Service starting in 2024, of course, is taking Sound Transit at its word. ST3 comes after the ST2 fiasco of 2008, which saw Federal Wayans agree to contribute $240 million to a transportation package that never actually got to Federal Way (despite assurances to the contrary). We’re still paying for that. We also helped Sound Transit pay over $858,000 to host a shindig celebrating two light rail stations opening up in Seattle. Those stations were part of ST1, which Federal Wayans also paid into.

Federal Way shouldn’t expect a thank-you card from Sound Transit, but we have every right to expect something more than another round of promises, a staggering $54 billion price tag – a figure greater than the gross domestic product of Panama – and a wink accompanied by a “no, really; this time you can trust us.”

The whole of the Puget Sound region absolutely needs a comprehensive transit solution. Washington’s population will swell by about 25 percent between now and 2040, and geography has already limited the extent to which roads and highways can ease our traffic problems. This plan, then, is not and should not be the final one proposed to tackle those problems.

But ST3 is too much after too little, and the Mirror recommends voters opt to -Reject Sound Transit Proposition 1- and demand a better, more pragmatic plan next year.

The Mirror’s Editorial Board is a seven-member panel made up of the Mirror’s publisher, its editor, and five residents from the community. The positions expressed in editorials produced by the board are the Mirror’s official positions, and those positions are decided following a simple majority vote taken after extensive consideration, discussion, and a preponderance of information.