The additional 666 ballots counted by the Lewis County Auditor’s Office between Feb. 11 and Feb. 12 did not change the results of the February special election.
The final ballot count before election certification on Feb. 21 will be released at 5 p.m. on Feb. 20.
With only an estimated nine ballots left to count, Lewis County Fire District 17’s merger request and school levies in Napavine, Pe Ell and Evaline are expected to pass, while levy proposals in Onalaska, White Pass and Winlock school districts will likely fail.
A total of 6,030 ballots have been counted in Lewis County thus far, with an estimated voter turnout of 33.5%.
See more about the election at https://elections.lewiscountywa.gov/current-election/.
Here are the updated results as of the Lewis County Auditor’s Office’s latest count, which was released at 4:23 p.m. on Feb. 12:
• In Napavine, a levy proposal was passing with 612 (52.67%) voters in favor and 550 (47.33%) in opposition.
The levy would replace the Napavine School District’s existing levy, which expires at the end of 2025, with a new three-year levy that allows the district to collect $1,427,536 in property taxes in 2026, $1,498,913 in 2027, and $1,573,858 in 2028. The estimated levy rate would be $1.55 per $1,000 of assessed value for all three years. The levy would be used to fund Napavine School District education programs and operations that are not fully funded by the state, such as staffing to reduce class sizes, transportation, technology upgrades, maintenance, special education programs, after school programs and extracurriculars.
• The Pe Ell School District’s levy was passing with 262 (64.69%) votes in favor and 143 (35.31%) opposed. The levy would replace the Pe Ell School District’s existing levy, which expires at the end of 2025, with a new two-year levy that would allow the district to collect $480,000 in property taxes in 2026 and 2027. The estimated levy rate would be $1.12 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2026 and $1.08 in 2027.
The levy would be used to fund Pe Ell School District education programs and operations that are not fully funded by the state, such as athletics and activities, student food, health and counseling services, student transportation costs, technology improvements, STEM programs, professional development and training for staff, infrastructure costs and special education costs.
• In the Evaline School District, 163 voters (66.26%) were in favor of a levy proposal and 83 (33.74%) were opposed. The levy would replace the Evaline School District’s existing levy, which expires at the end of 2025, with a new two-year levy that would allow the district to collect up to $269,000 in property taxes in 2026 and 2027. The estimated levy rate would be $0.92 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2026 and $0.88 in 2027. The funding would pay part of the cost of educational programs and operations within the Evaline School District, such as class size reduction, after school activities, music, technology upgrades, and other operations not funded by the state.
• In the Winlock School District, a proposed levy was still failing with 570 votes (47.54%) in favor and 629 (52.46%) opposed.
The Winlock School District Educational Programs and Operations Replacement Levy, if passed, would replace the Winlock School District’s existing levy, which expires at the end of 2025, with a new three-year levy that would allow the district to collect $1,680,000 in property taxes in 2026, $1,900,00 in 2027 and $2,100,000 in 2028. The estimated levy rate would be $1.27 per $1,000 of assessed value for all three years.
The levy would be used to fund Winlock School District education programs and operation expenses that are not fully covered by the state, such as extracurricular programs, special education, staffing costs, classroom technology, academic and behavioral support, student safety and security, and general maintenance and equipment costs.
• In the Onalaska School District, a proposed levy was still failing with 715 (47.92%) votes in favor and 777 (52.08%) votes opposed.
The Onalaska School District Educational Programs and Operation Replacement Levy, if passed, would replace the Onalaska School District’s existing levy, which expires at the end of 2025, with a new three-year levy that would allow the district to collect up to $1,891,440 in property taxes in 2026, $1,948,184 in 2027 and $2,006,629 in 2028. The estimated levy rate would be $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed value for all three years.
The levy would be used to fund Onalaska School District education programs and operations that are not fully funded by the state, such as athletics and activities, health and counseling services, student transportation costs, technology staffing, equipment improvements, staff professional development and training, special education costs, utilities maintenance, preschool programs, and enhanced security measures.
• In the White Pass School District, a proposed levy was still failing by a slim margin with 527 (48.26%) in favor and 565 (51.74%) opposed.
The White Pass School District School Programs and Operations Replacement Levy, if passed, would replace the White Pass School District’s existing levy, which expires at the end of 2025, with a new four-year levy that would allow the district to collect $1,197,644 in property taxes in 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029. The estimated levy rate would be $0.79 per $1,000 of assessed value all four years.
The funding would be used to cover White Pass School District education program and operation expenses that are not fully covered by the state, such as teachers, support staff, technology, curriculum, athletics, facility maintenance and operations.
• The Castle Rock District’s proposed levy was passing, with 53.32% in favor and 46.68% opposed.
• Voters continued to back an effort to merge Lewis County Fire District 17 with Pierce County Fire District 23 with 69 votes in favor and seven opposed.
