QUILCENE — An emergency medical services levy for the Quilcene Fire Department has been approved by more than 74 percent of the vote.
“I’m ecstatic that this passed,” said Fire Chief Larry Karp.
“We got great support from the community, so we can pay our career firefighters.”
The six-year levy won by 592, or 74.56 percent, to 202 votes, or 25.44 percent, after a second ballot count Wednesday.
In the initial count Tuesday night, the levy won by 559 votes, or 75.03 percent, to 186 votes, or 24.97 percent opposed.
As a first-time levy, it required 60 percent voter approval, while a renewal will need only 50 percent, Karp said.
“I was gratified with the amount of votes we got,” he said.
“I was hoping to get over 60 percent, but going into an election, you never know what you are going to get.”
During the campaign, Karp had said the levy would help stabilize the force, which is moving from an all-volunteer service to one with some paid firefighters, as well as accommodate the increasing needs of an aging population.
After Wednesday’s second count of ballots, the Jefferson County Auditor’s Office had tallied 794 ballots out of 1,431 mailed — the number that had come in the mail and were in drop boxes by Tuesday morning — for a voter turnout of 55.49 percent.
The next scheduled count is by noon today.
Beginning in 2017, the tax will assess 50 cents for each $1,000 of property valuation, or $100 on a property valued at $200,000.
It will bring in about $165,000 annually — enough for the district to keep its career personnel.
The department will begin receiving the funds in January but will not need them to pay the firefighters until a year later, Karp said.
A $396,000 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant last year allowed full funding of three full-time firefighter positions for two years.
The levy passage means there will be no layoffs, Karp said.
“We got this done at the right time,” he said.
“We’ll have the money before it will be needed, but if we had waited, we’d need to pay them ourselves.”
Karp said the department has enough money to pay the firefighters through 2017.
He credited a citizens’ committee for the results, saying the group had been very visible around town during the weeks leading up to the election.
“Some of the success we had getting the word out resulted from their efforts,” he said.
Before passage of the levy, Quilcene was the only fire district in Jefferson County that did not have an emergency medical services levy.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
