Mountlake Terrace levy-lid lift passing

Published 11:45 am Monday, August 8, 2016

By Evan Smith

The Mountlake Terrace tax measure on the Aug. 2 primary-election ballot was passing in votes counted through Friday.

The measure, Proposition 1, was passing by a 52.2 percent to 47.8 percent margin.

The item is a levy-lid lift, meaning that it would allow the city to raise property taxes beyond voter-approved limits. Part of the levy is a four-year tax to pay for rent on a temporary city hall. The rest, to continue after four years, would pay for parks and recreation in the city.

Mountlake Terrace has been renting city-hall and police space since ceilings collapsed at the former Civic Center eight years ago. In that time, voters have faced two bond measures, both of which fell short of the 60-percent supermajority required for bond measures.

This year’s levy can pass with a simple majority.

Supporters of the measure say that the four years of the city-hall tax will give city officials time to develop a plan for a new city-hall complex.

Mountlake Terrace Proposition 1 had no organized opposition. That’s far different from the recent bond measures. Those measures brought out strong opposition.

Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.