‘We’re concerned,’ Pierce County fire department says after early election results
Early election results showed the Key Peninsula Fire Department’s maintenance and operations levy failing Tuesday night.
Proposition No. 1 - Property Tax Levy for Maintenance and Operation Expenses has 1,786 votes (57.08%) in favor and 1,343 votes (42.92%) against so far. The levy requires a 60% supermajority to pass.
“We’re looking at it, and we’re concerned,” Key Peninsula Fire spokesperson Anne Nesbit told The News Tribune Tuesday night. “We’re very happy that the majority of the votes are yeses, but we need three percent more to get our 60% to pass.”
Nesbit went on to say she thinks it’s possible the levy will still pass.
“I think it’s going to be close, but we’re going to stay optimistic,” Nesbit said.
She didn’t know how many ballots were left to be counted. There are 13,729 registered voters eligible to vote in this election and there was a turnout of 23.52%, according to the Pierce County Auditor. Besides a 60% supermajority, the election also requires a turnout of 40% of the voters who voted in the last M&O levy election, but Nesbit said that usually isn’t a concern.
Voters have approved the $800,000 M&O levy in each four-year cycle since 2012. It’s a property tax of about $0.17 per $1,000 of assessed property value, according to the voters’ pamphlet, or about $85 in taxes each year for the owner of a $500,000 home.
The levy has seen stiffer opposition in recent years after the fire department’s purchase of properties in Key Center caused some residents to question the department’s fiscal responsibility, though that purchase was made with a low-interest loan, not with funds from the fire department’s budget, The News Tribune reported last month.
If it does pass again this cycle, the M&O levy will allow the fire department to continue operating at its current levels of service. It will support three needs: staffing, maintenance of existing facilities and the purchase and maintenance of equipment.
There are two larger levies, a fire levy and an EMS levy, that also feed into the department’s budget. Last year, the department received $6.3 million from the fire levy and $1.6 million from the EMS levy.
If it doesn’t pass, the fire department risks laying off five or six firefighters and needing to close one of their three staffed stations, Key Peninsula Fire Chief Nick Swinhart told The News Tribune last month.
Voters will have another chance to consider the levy on the November ballot if it fails in the primary, Swinhart said.
“From medical calls to structure fires, motor vehicle accidents to HazMat incidents and wildfires, your dedicated firefighters provide the highest level of service,” the committee in support of the levy wrote in their statement in the voters’ pamphlet. “This wouldn’t be possible without the crucial funding of the M&O levy . . . Failure to pass this levy could result in the loss of front-line staff that keep you safe.”
There was no statement submitted against the levy in the voters’ pamphlet.
The next batch of results will be available at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at piercecountywa.gov/328/Elections.
