The Mossyrock School District and the Morton Fire District will appear on the Aug. 5 ballot after proposals for funding failed by slim margins in the May special election. The White Pass School District will also look for supplemental funding.
The White Pass School District is hoping to pass a four-year educational program and operations levy this summer while Mossyrock is trying to pass a similar levy that would last for just three years. A two-year levy proposed by the Mossyrock School District in the spring failed by just three votes.
Lewis County Fire Protection District No. 4 in Morton is making its second run at passing a bond to construct a new fire station. The bond received more than half of the vote in support in the May election, but didn’t reach the 60% threshold necessary to pass a bond. It fell just shy with 57.36% of votes in support.
The new three-year levy proposed by the Mossyrock School District is longer than its proposition earlier this year that would have collected local property taxes for just two years. According to the resolution passed by the Mossyrock School District Board of Directors, the new levy, which would replace the district's previous three-year levy just before it expires, would collect $1,475,686 in 2026, $1,647,682 in 2027 and $1,741,495 in 2028. The estimated average levy rate is $1.27 per $1000 of assessed property value.
The resolution passed by the White Pass School District Board of Directors proposes a levy that would collect $1,197,644 for four years from 2026 to 2029. The estimated average levy rate is $0.79 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The Lewis County Fire District No. 4 located in Morton is looking to pass $3,000,000 in 15-year bonds to build a new fire station. The only change between the district's proposal in the spring and its new attempt is that the new bonds would have a faster turnaround, being payable in 15 years instead of the 20-year bonds proposed on the May ballot.
According to the resolution passed by the district's board of commissioners, the new facility is necessary to improve the services the district provides to its community.
“The inadequate size and aging and outdated facilities of the District’s existing fire station, and the need to improve community, firefighter and emergency responder safety, require the District to provide firefighting and emergency response facilities for the protection of the public health, life and property by constructing a new fire station sized to meet the community’s current and future firefighting needs,” reads the resolution.
Learn more about Lewis County elections at https://elections.lewiscountywa.gov/.
