Nearly 20 percent of ballots mailed countywide in the Feb. 8 special election had been returned as of Monday, the Jefferson County Auditor said Tuesday.
All registered voters in Jefferson County received ballots for the proposal to raise the sales tax by 0.3 percent, or 3 cents on each $10 purchase.
Only residents of specific school districts will vote on proposed property tax levies in the Port Townsend, Chimacum and Quillayute Valley districts.
Of the 21,700 ballots issued in the sales tax hike election, 4,333 had been returned as of Tuesday — a total of 19.97 percent.
The number of ballots mailed in that election does not include replacement ballots. Sixty-nine ballots were undeliverable.
In the Port Townsend School District property tax levy election, 2,243 ballots had been returned out of 10,793 issued — a number that includes replacement ballots — for a 20.78 percent return rate.
In the Chimacum School District property tax levy election, 1,593 ballots had been returned out of 8,238 issued, including replacement ballots, for a total return of 19.34 percent.
Although the majority of voters in the Quilayute Valley School District are in Clallam County, 142 voters live in Jefferson County.
Of those, 17 — or 11.97 percent — had returned ballots as of Tuesday.
Of the 3,015 registered Clallam County voters in the district based in Forks, a total of 220 have returned ballots, for a return percentage of 7.30 percent.
Completed ballots must be mailed or hand-delivered by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, to be counted.
Ballots can be taken to the Auditor’s Office at the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend; placed in a 24-hour drop box in the rear parking lot of the courthouse; or placed in another 24-hour drop box at Jefferson County Library, 620 Cedar Ave., Port Hadlock.
The sales tax measure would benefit Jefferson Transit. If approved, it would raise the county’s sale tax rate to 9 percent.
The levies at all of the school districts replace current levies that will expire in December. If approved, the new levies would be on 2012 property tax bills.
Port Townsend schools
The Port Townsend School District has proposed a four-year replacement educational programs and operation property tax levy that would collect $3.1 million its first year in 2012 and about 4 percent more each year.
The current levy rate is $1.17 per $1,000 assessed valuation, which means the owner of a $200,000 home pays about $234 in property taxes.
The estimated rate would be $1.23 per $1,000 assessed valuation the first year and would gradually increase to $1.39 per $1,000 assessed valuation in 2015.
That means the owner of a $200,000 home would pay $246 in 2012 property taxes and $278 in 2015.
Chimacum schools
The Chimacum School District is asking for a gradual increase over the term of its three-year property tax levy, with $2.25 million requested in 2012, increasing to $2.49 million by 2014.
Chimacum’s current rate is $1 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. That means the owner of a $200,000 home pays about $200 in taxes.
If passed, the levy would cost each property taxpayer $1.23 per $1,000 assessed value the first year and increase to $1.35 per $1,000 the third year.
That means the owner of a $200,000 home would pay $246 in 2012 property taxes, which would increase to $270 in 2015 property taxes.
Quillayute Valley schools
The two-year levy for the district in Forks would bring in $626,348 each year with an estimated rate of $1.41 per $1,000 assessed valuation.
That means the owner of a $200,000 home would pay about $282 per year in property taxes.
