PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County Auditor’s Office had received by Tuesday 3,211 ballots, or 21.6 percent, of the 14,808 ballots mailed to voters in a special election to renew support for East Jefferson Fire-Rescue.
Voter Registration Coordinator Betty Johnson said the initial vote tally was heavier than usual.
“This was a single-issue election, so the voters responded quickly,” Johnson said.
“If the issues are more complicated or if there are several measures on the ballot, people tend to hang on to them for a while longer,” she said.
Ballots were mailed April 7 in the all-mail election.
They must be postmarked or returned to the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend, by 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 27, to be counted.
Of the ballots sent out, 6,737 were in Port Townsend, while 8,091 were to registered voters in unincorporated areas of the county.
As of Tuesday, Port Townsend voters had returned 1,482 ballots, or 22 percent, while 1,729 came in from unincorporated areas.
The fire district is asking for support for three measures.
One of the measures is on ballots for residents of Port Townsend only, which has fire and emergency services provided by the district through a services contract.
The other two are presented only to those in the fire district who live outside the city limit, including Cape George, Chimacum, Irondale, Kala Point, Marrowstone Island and Port Hadlock.
If approved, increases would be reflected in the 2011 property tax statement.
The Port Townsend measure will ask voters to approve restoring the city’s emergency medical service levy rate to 50 cents per $1,000 assessed value in the city. The current rate is 28 cents per $1,000.
The two measures in the unincorporated areas of the fire district are:
• Proposition 1, which would restore the district’s emergency medical services levy rate to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value within the district. The current rate is 32 cents per $1,000.
• Proposition 2, which would restore the fire district’s regular tax levy for fire services to $1 per $1,000 of assessed value. The current rate is 56 cents per $1,000.
Revenues from both the city measure and Proposition 1 would be used only for emergency medical services, while Proposition 2 revenues would go to the district’s general fund.
For the district’s position on the levy go to www.ejfr.org/levy_facts.html.
For questions about ballots, phone the Jefferson County auditor at 360-385-9117.
