Lewis County Commissioners formally establish 911 tax

Voter-approved .2% sales tax to fund Lewis County 911 call center goes into effect April 1

By The Chronicle staff
Posted 1/15/25

The Lewis County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to formally establish the 911 tax that voters approved in November.

The tax itself, which will collect an additional .2% sales tax to fund …

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Lewis County Commissioners formally establish 911 tax

Voter-approved .2% sales tax to fund Lewis County 911 call center goes into effect April 1

Posted

The Lewis County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to formally establish the 911 tax that voters approved in November.

The tax itself, which will collect an additional .2% sales tax to fund the Lewis County 911 call center, goes into effect on April 1.

The ordinance the Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved following a public hearing held during its regular meeting on Tuesday added a chapter to Lewis County Code to establish the tax and set up a fund for the collected tax to go into.

That fund, referred to in the ordinance as Communication Fund 1070, will be used solely for expenses directly related to emergency communication systems and facilities, “to include providing funds for the costs associated with financing, design, acquisition, construction, equipping, operating, maintaining, remodeling, repairing, re-equipping and improvements of the Lewis County 911 public safety communications systems and facilities,” the ordinance reads.

No community members gave public comment during the public hearing on the ordinance on Tuesday, and there was no discussion by the county commissioners.

Lewis County voters approved a ballot measure in November to establish the tax with 57.19% of voters in support, according to previous Chronicle reporting.

The initiative had support from the City of Centralia, the Lewis County Fire Chiefs Association and the 911 Communications Combined User Committee for Lewis County, among others.



The tax is anticipated to raise approximately $4 million in annual revenue.

Groceries, gas and medicine would be exempt from the tax.

Lewis County’s 911 center is currently funded through user fees, which in this case are first responders.

The funds for those fees and other fire department operations are collected through property tax levies, according to previous Chronicle reporting.