SEQUIM — Sequim-area voters will consider this November a proposed levy lid lift that would allow Clallam County Fire District No. 3 to maintain current service levels.
District commissioners voted 3-0 Tuesday to place the measure on the Nov. 6 election ballot.
The proposal would raise the levy rate for district property owners from $1.26 per $1,000 of assessed value to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.
If approved, the owner of a $250,000 home would pay about $60 more in property taxes to the fire district in 2019.
The levy rate would be tied to the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue consumer price index (CPI) from 2020 to 2024 with an annual cap of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.
District officials said a levy lid lift is needed to allow the district to keep up with the cost of doing business.
“The district needs to increase its revenues just to maintain our current levels of service,” Fire District 3 Chief Ben Andrews said at Tuesday’s meeting.
The proposed levy lid lift with a CPI-driven inflator would generate more than $1 million for the fire district next year and about $8.3 million over its six-year lifespan, Andrews said.
“The thing you have to keep in mind is the $1.50 cap stays in place,” Andrews said before the commissioners’ unanimous vote to approve the levy lid lift resolution.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
