Issaquah and a group of fire districts are considering creating a new Regional Fire Authority, which would effectively disband Eastside Fire and Rescue.

Adding to the political drama, the city of Sammamish council has passed two resolutions stating they were against the idea.

“First of all, what problem are they trying to solve?” said Sammamish City Manager Ben Yazici. “Sammamish residents are getting really good services at a reasonable price.”

While no one knows how much money an RFA would cost, the best guess would mean an increase for Sammamish taxpayers, he said.

Its citizens would go from paying about $6.5 million for its three fire houses to $9 million, he said.

However, not everyone agrees that a new organization will for certain cost residents more.

Right now, the Eastside Fire Planning Committee hasn’t even created a “plan” for how the fire authority would be organized or even how many fire houses it would have.

Without the plan, it’s impossible to estimate costs, said Joe Forkner, who is overseeing a steering committee that recommended the RFA over other proposals.

For the other agencies in ESFR, including Issaquah, the hope is to provide a more stable way to fund fire and emergency services, Forkner said.

Today, ESFR operation costs are negotiated by several fire districts and a couple cities. Issaquah pays for its portion of services out of its general fund.

If a fire district or city isn’t able or willing to come up with the money, everyone else in the group would either have to pay more or suffer the loss in services.

“This gets to be problematic for a lot of agencies,” Forkner said.

The decision is easy for the fire districts, but for cities who pull money from a general fund, things get financially complicated, said Fred Butler, an Issaquah City Council member.

The RFA works by taxing all property owners the same rate, up to $1.50 per assessed $1,000. It’s a new tax.

Issaquah council member Mark Mullet couldn’t see how the RFA wouldn’t cost residents more, he said. “The challenge seems to come from the finance side.”

The hope is to also pass a fire benefit charge, a complicated formula that charges owners based on risk. That money would mean that less taxes would need to be collected.

All of the interested agencies include Duvall, Fall City, Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue, the cities of Issaquah and North Bend, and fire districts 10 and 38.

The group won’t have an initial plan until March, when it hopes to start holding public input meetings.

The committee could put the issue to voters as early as this fall, but it’s more likely to be on the ballot for fall 2012, Forkner said.

It would have to pass by voters with over 50 percent approval. Residents would have to approve the fire benefit charge by 60 percent, he said.