Compensation limits for fire district board members are set in statute. RCW 52.14.010 provides that payment of compensation for each board member shall be at a rate of one hundred and four dollars ($104) per day, with compensation for each board member not to exceed nine thousand nine hundred and eighty four dollars ($9,984) per year. RCW 52.14.010 also provides for the Office of Financial Management to adjust this dollar threshold for inflation every five years, beginning January 1, 2019. The adjustment is to be based upon changes in the consumer price index for "wage earners and clerical workers, all items" compiled by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor during that five year period. The new dollar threshold shall be transmitted to the Office of the Code Reviser for publication in the Washington State Register at least one month before the new threshold takes effect.

Over the five-year period from October 2013 to October 2018, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, increased by 12.68 percent.

In accordance with the requirements set forth above, the Office of Financial Management submits for publication the new dollar threshold. The new dollar threshold is one hundred and twenty eight dollars ($128) per day with a new annual compensation limit of twelve thousand two hundred and eighty eight dollars ($12,288). The new dollar threshold takes effect January 1, 2019.