The third time was the charm for proponents of a property tax levy to fund emergency medical services in Lewis County Fire District 5.
The measure, which adds 49 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to property taxes in the fire district that includes Napavine, officially passed muster Tuesday when Lewis County certified the vote count of the Aug. 7 primary election.
Funds generated by the levy will go toward ambulance response and other EMS needs beginning next year. Those expenses currently come out of the general fire budget, money that will now be used for upgrades to equipment and district infrastructure.
“I’m grateful, relieved, and pretty happy,” interim Fire District 5 Chief Laura Hanson said. “It’s the first time in the 15 years I’ve been here that people have voted for us. We can keep moving forward and trying to keep pace with the amount of growth in this area while continuing to provide good service.”
To enact a new tax levy requires 60 percent of votes be in the affirmative and an overall turnout rate of 40 percent of voters who cast ballots in the previous election. Final tallies posted online show 1,227 votes, or 60.12 percent of the 2,041 ballots cast, in favor of the levy.
Proponents of the measure claimed victory by two votes more than the minimum number needed to reach the 60 percent threshold. Fire District 5 residents cleared the turnout barrier by five votes. Though the majority of voters favored adding to their property taxes in November 2016 and August 2017, they fell short of both markers. Hanson, Fire District 5 commissioners and other backers of the levy made a concerted effort to boost turnout in the run up to Aug. 7.
“We had a citizen’s advisory board that included a couple tax protestors come in, and we convinced them,” Commissioner Tom Crowson said. “Another few citizens who rent in our district told me they didn’t feel it was proper for them to vote for a property tax increase, and I convinced them it was the best deal for public safety. Every vote counts.”
Hanson said the fire district will use some of the newly untethered funds in its fire budget to purchase scene lighting for use at incident scenes after dark. The high-powered lights will cost about $2,000.
“We spend a lot of time on accidents or fires in the evening time,” Hanson said. “It’s one thing we’ve been in desperate need of, and this is how, when we’re looking at the budget and making choices about items, that extra money will allow us to make decisions that help keep our firefighters safe.”
