PORT TOWNSEND— A fire district levy in Port Ludlow was passing and a Brinnon fire district levy was being rejected Tuesday night after the Jefferson County Auditor’s Office processed the first batch of election ballots.
Elsewhere, incumbent Jefferson County Fire District No. 3 (Port Ludlow) Commissioner Gene Carmody was leading challenger Tami Robocker 1,014 votes to 528 votes, and incumbent Clallam County Fire District No. 3 (Sequim) Commissioner James Barnfather led challenger Sean Ryan 4,276 votes to 2,387 votes.
The Sequim-area fire district extends into Jefferson County to Gardiner.
Voters in the Port Ludlow area were considering Proposition 1, a 59-cents-per-$1,000 property tax to finance maintenance and operations from 2014 to 2017.
Three firefighters will be laid of and three lieutenants will become firefighters if the levy fails, department officials say.
If passed, the levy would raise and expected $540,000 in 2014 and $513,000 in each of the three subsequent years.
The Port Ludlow fire district levy was passing 1,353 votes to 728 votes — or 65.02 percent to 34.98 percent — on Tuesday night.
Brinnon levy lid lift
In Brinnon, voters in Jefferson County Fire District No. 4 were rejecting a levy lid lift from 73 cents to $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value to maintain current staffing levels, replace damaged equipment, repair fire stations and to recruit and train volunteers.
The levy lid lift, which would increase the district’s annual revenue from $195,345 to about $335,510, was failing 273 votes to 192 votes — or 58.71 percent to 41.29 percent — on Tuesday night.
Both fire levies require a simple majority for passage.
Carmody was leading Robocker 65.76 percent to 34.24 percent in the race for Jefferson County Fire District 3 commissioner.
Barnfather had 63.99 percent of the Clallam County vote and 75.7 percent of the Gardiner-area vote in the race for Clallam County Fire District 3 commissioner.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
