By Katherine Schiffner
Herald Writer
A vote on a $12 million bond measure in the Monroe School District was too close to call Tuesday night, but supporters were still holding out hope the measure would win approval.
"There’s still a chance we can win, but we’re not as strong as we hoped we would be," Monroe City Council member Tony Balk, who co-chaired the bond measure committee, said Tuesday.
The measure would modernize Maltby Elementary School, build a new elementary school and upgrade technology districtwide.
With 28 percent of ballots counted, 57 percent of voters had approved the measure and 42 percent had rejected it. A 60 percent majority is needed to pass the measure.
The bond failed in February by 200 votes. It needs a supermajority to pass, which means 3,212 votes are required to validate the election and 1,927 votes are needed to pass it.
The bond issue would tax property at 47 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation. It would add $94 the first year to the property tax bill of the owner of a house assessed at $200,000. That means, in 2003, property owners would pay $4.53 per $1,000 assessed valuation in school taxes.
The district has 6,070 students in 11 schools and encompasses about 135 square miles.
The outcome of a permanent one-time levy that would enable Fire District 4 to hire its own paramedics also was uncertain Tuesday night, with voters in the city of Snohomish apparently approving the levy and voters in Fire District 4 not reaching the 60 percent majority needed.
With 29 percent of ballots counted, 56 percent of voters in Fire District 4 approved the levy and 44 percent voted against it.
In Snohomish, with 33 percent of ballots counted, 65 percent of voters approved the levy and 35 percent voted against it.
The levy had to be approved by 60 percent of residents within city of Snohomish, which has some of the lowest paramedic response times in the district, as well as the surrounding fire district.
Snohomish Fire and Rescue is one of three fire districts in the county that doesn’t have its own paramedic units and contracts with neighboring districts for those services.
The levy will cost residents 50 cents per $1000 of property valuation, up 25 cents from the existing emergency support levy. That means a homeowner with a $180,000 home would see a $45 a year increase over what is paid now.
Voters in Fire District 8, which includes Lake Stevens, apparently turned down a request to increase the levy lid, or maximum amount the levy can collect, to beef up paramedic staffing and provide training facilities for the fire district.
With 29 percent of ballots counted, 66 percent of voters rejected the levy and 33 percent voted "yes."
"I’m disappointed, certainly. We didn’t anticipate it would fail by such a large margin," said Fire District 8 Deputy Chief Dave Lingenfelter. "We’re going to have to get together and figure out what our next step will be."
The levy is now set at $1.09 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. That would increase to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed valuation if a simple majority of those voting in the election approve the measure.
The fire district encompass 46 square miles and includes the city of Lake Stevens. Its southern boundary is U.S. 2, its eastern boundary is between Granite Falls and Lake Stevens on Highway 92 around Schwartzmiller Road, its northern boundary is near 60th Street NE, and its western boundary is on the east side of the U.S. 2 trestle.
Bothell voters were turning down a $14.9 million bond measure to build a civic center facility that would house all city services, with the exception of police and courts.
With less than 35 percent of the ballots counted, 60 percent of voters had rejected the measure, and 40 percent of voters had approved it.
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