SEQUIM — The margin of victory for Clallam County Fire District No. 3’s maintenance and operation levy was cut nearly in half after more ballots were tallied on Friday.
Tuesday’s count in the all-mail election — which included ballots received through Sept. 8 — showed voters favoring the levy by about 8 percentage points.
District officials asked for a hike in the levy property tax rate from 92 cents to $1.50 per $1,000 in assessed property valuation.
On Friday, the gap thinned to 4 points, with 2,673, or 52 percent, voting yes and 2,464, or 48 percent, voting no.
The levy needs only a simple majority to pass.
The change wasn’t great news for Fire Chief Steve Vogel, but he isn’t ready to hit the panic button just yet.
“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” Vogel said.
“I’m not overly optimistic or pessimistic.”
About 500 more ballots from District No. 3 voters remain to be counted Tuesday.
Mathematically, the levy holds enough of a lead to give Vogel a fairly good comfort zone, Clallam County Auditor Cathleen McKeown said Saturday.
“It would be unusual to see this one flip,” McKeown said.
About 22,000 ballots were sent out to voters in District No. 3.
