PORT ANGELES — Voters have approved the creation of a metropolitan park district to fund the William Shore Memorial Pool.
The vote was 6,484 for the park district, or 67.48 percent of the mail-in ballots received, to 3,125 votes, or 32.52 percent, the Clallam County Auditor’s Office announced tonight.
About 500 ballots remain to be counted, and an unknown number of ballots are expected to arrive in the mail Wednesday. But no change in the outcome of the election is expected.
The election was for voters within the Port Angeles School District boundaries, which is the area defined for the proposed park district.
The district, once formed, will levy an estimated 15 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation to fund the maintenance and operations of the pool starting in 2010.
The levy would cost the owner of a $200,000 home — the median price of a home within the school district — about $30 a year.
City officials would have closed the pool, which has been funded by donations since April 1, on June 15 if the proposal was rejected by voters.
The new park district will support the pool, which was previously funded by the city.
The City Council said the city could no longer afford the pool’s $450,000 in expenses per year.
