MEAD, Wash. – The Spokane County Fire District 9 voted to put the special levy back on the August ballot after it was projected to fail for the first time in more than 28 years.
Fire Chief Jim Walkowski told NonStop Local that a big factor in the levy’s failure was a misunderstanding of what the levy tax does and how the increase would affect voters.
“I think it had a significant impact. All the input we have received so far from voters calling in you know coming into the station etcetera, was, we were confused about that, we voted no based on that because it was too much of an increase, and then we clarify, and they didn’t realize it was that versus what you were asking for,” Walkowski said.
Two levies fund Fire District Nine. One is the fire levy, which costs voters 65 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. The other is the special levy, which was voted on this week. This year, homeowners pay $1.29 per $1,000 of property value. The levy would increase that number to $1.47 starting in 2025. That number will increase to $1.48 in 2026 and $1.49 in 2027.
The board of fire commissioners voted Friday to put this measure back on the Aug. 6 ballot. Walkowski says this levy passing is vital to their operation, stating that 65% of the fire district’s budget comes from this special levy.
Some of those who opposed the levy cited rising property taxes across the board.
Property taxes in Spokane County have increased 47% in the last five years, according to Spokane County.
Just over 10 thousand voters turned out for this election, and the measure failed by less than 1%.
Walkowski says they must go back out and again ask citizens for their vote.
“We’ve always, for 28 plus years, we’ve always been supported very well, the community has been very gracious, the tax-payers have been very gracious in supporting our ask, an so were going to go back out, and do that again,” Walkowski said.
The next election is Aug. 6 and the levy will be on that ballot if it does not pass this time. Walkowski told me he is confident they can clear some confusion around the levy and is hopeful it will pass on the next levy in August.
