With the results of the April 22 special election certified on Friday, May 2, Winlock School District’s levy proposal has officially passed by 5 votes.
All other measures on the ballot — including the Mossyrock School District replacement levy that has been 3 votes shy of approval since last week’s counts — have failed.
Levies need 50% plus one vote to pass.
Only two ballots were counted between the tally released on Friday, April 25, and the final count released Thursday, May 1.
Both ballots were cast in the Winlock School District race. One voter was in favor of the measure and one was opposed.
The Winlock School District Educational Programs and Operations Replacement Levy passed with 675 voters, 50.19%, supporting the measure and 670, 49.81%, opposing it.
The proposal replaces the expiring three-year levy with a new two-year levy that would allow the district to collect up to $1,480,000 in property taxes in 2026 and up to $1,682,000 in 2027. The estimated levy rate would be $1.12 per $1,000 of assessed value for both years.
The Mossyrock School District Replacement Educational Programs and Operations Levy failed with 667 votes, 50.08%, opposing it and 665 votes, 49.92%, in favor.
If passed, the proposal would have replaced the expiring three-year levy with a new two-year levy that would allow the district to collect up to $1,480,000 in property taxes in 2026 and up to $1,682,000 in 2027. The estimated levy rate would be $1.12 per $1,000 of assessed value for both years.
The Mossyrock School District has indicated it would request a recount if its levy failed by a slim margin.
The district has two days from the date the election was certified to apply for a recount.
This was the Mossyrock School District’s first attempt to pass a replacement levy this year, meaning the district has another chance to go back to the voters before the existing levy expires at the end of the year.
Under Washington state law, school districts can only run levy proposals on the ballot twice per calendar year.
This election was the Onalaska School District’s second attempt to pass a replacement levy this year. With its measure failing 55.28% (979 votes) opposed to 44.72% (792) in favor, the district will not be able to pass a replacement levy before the current levy expires at the end of the year.
The final measure on Lewis County ballots, a Lewis County Fire Protection District No. 4 bond to construct a new fire station, failed to reach the 60% of the vote it needed to pass.
The final count tallied 265 ballots, 57.36%, in favor and 197, 42.64%, opposed.
There were a total of 13,264 eligible voters across all the local ballot measures and there were 4,916 ballots counted as of Wednesday for a turnout of 37.1%.
Learn more about the special election and the Lewis County Auditor’s Office at https://elections.lewiscountywa.gov/current-election.
