Initial results Tuesday showed Vancouver’s Proposition 4, which would raise property taxes to fund police, failing by a narrow margin.
The levy lid lift was failing by 800 votes, or just over 1 percentage point. As of Tuesday night, 29,245 people (50.69 percent) voted against the measure, 28,445 (49.31 percent) voted in favor.
Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle said the results were too close to call, especially after hearing of the hundreds of people still in line at the Clark County Elections Office at 8 p.m.
“We’ve always known that police services have been a No. 1 priority for everybody, but we’ll see. I think we’re going to need to wait,” McEnerny-Ogle said. “We’ve waited this long, I guess another couple days won’t hurt us.”
City Manager Lon Pluckhahn agreed he was looking forward to the next round of returns which will be released Wednesday afternoon.
“The community has clearly expressed that police services are a priority, and we look forward to seeing if that is reflected in the final vote,” Pluckhahn said in an emailed statement to The Columbian.
Should the ballot measure ultimately fail, the mayor promised city staffers will work to find another path to funding public safety.
In addition to the 80 sworn officers, the levy also would add 36 nonsworn police positions, form a traffic enforcement camera program, expand the city’s Homeless Assistance and Resources Team (which has two officers) and upgrade equipment.
The measure would increase the city’s 2024 general fund property tax levy by about 41 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value for 2025. The levy would increase 5 percent per year for six years and would raise about $15.5 million the first year growing to about $36 million by 2030, according to the city. The city estimates the owner of a $500,000 house would pay an additional $205 in property taxes in 2025 and $585 in 2030.
A police advisory committee said the additional funding is necessary due to a lack of staff, a 30 percent increase in call volume for police services and an 87 percent increase in reported crimes since 2018, according to the city.
