Residents of Yacolt and parts of the northern county will cast ballots Aug. 1 to renew the levy that funds a third of North Country EMS’ ambulance service in the area.
Both Yacolt and district residents in unincorporated areas will vote on a property tax levy, at $1.40 per $1,000 of assessed property value, which will help pay for district operations.
For someone in a $300,000 home, that’s about $420 per year in property taxes.
Chief Ben Peeler said, after looking at property value projections for 2018, it’s likely the levy rate will actually be around $1.30.
The city and district votes are essentially the same thing, he said, in that they both directly fund the ambulance service.
North Country EMS’ service area covers about 1,000 square miles in north and northeast Clark, southeast Cowlitz, and west-central Skamania counties. The vote is to renew a levy from 2014.
The levy up for a vote, an excess levy, pays for about a third of the district’s expenses. The district’s regular levy, which Peeler said is about 40 cents per $1,000, pays another third, and the last third is paid for through transport fees.
It’s an “excess” levy because the law allows a regular levy of 50 cents per $1,000 for emergency medical service districts. Because of property value changes, the district’s current regular levy rate is about 41 cents per $1,000.
Combined, the levies are projected to raise more than $2.2 million total to pay for district maintenance, operation and staff salaries for three years.
Also, because it’s an excess levy, Peeler said, it all must be collected in the first year, 2018.
The measure needs 60 percent voter approval to pass. It also needs sufficient turnout, based on the last election, to be validated.
Since last year’s presidential election drove up turnout, that might be a challenge, Peeler said.
The levy would need 136 yes votes in Yacolt and 1,652 yes votes in the district at large to count.
However, Peeler said district residents have been consistent in supporting levy votes.
“We don’t take that for granted,” he said. “I still lose sleep going up to any vote.”
