According to a report from TDN, southeast Cowlitz County, Washington, residents will vote in August on a special excess levy to help fund the Emergency Medical Service district after county commissioners added the proposal to the ballot on Tuesday. The commissioners approved placing the levy on the August ballot and November general election ballot in case it doesn’t pass in the primary.
Cowlitz County EMS District No. 1 will ask voters to approve the $352,213 (about $1.10 per $1,000 of assessed valuation) special excess levy, which will be collected in 2022. The additional tax would cost a homeowner whose property is valued at $250,000 an additional $275. The money will help pay for operations, maintenance and salaries, according to the resolution.
The EMS district includes the southeast corner of Cowlitz County, east of Ariel, and includes Yale and Cougar.
North Country Emergency Medical Service, based in Yacolt, in northeast Clark County, serves the rural district as well as parts of Clark and Skamania Counties. The majority of district voters live in Cowlitz County.
According to a letter submitted to the county commissioners, about 25 percent of the North Country’s operating revenue depends on an excess levy. The new excess levy replaces a 2017 levy, which had an 81-percent approval across the three districts.
