After early drama, Key Peninsula EMS levy ekes out a win
Latest election results this week showed the Key Peninsula Fire Department’s emergency medical services levy squeaking out a narrow win, after an election-night nail-biter.
As of Tuesday, the Fire District 16 levy was receiving 2,358 yes votes, a 63.4% approval rate — enough to meet the requirement for a 60% supermajority, and just 267 votes over the number needed to validate.
“My phone is lighting up like crazy,” said Fire Chief Dustin Morrow said as the results became clear last Wednesday. “It’s pretty exciting.”
The district was asking voters to approve a permanent property tax of 50 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation to support the district’s emergency medical response teams.
Things looked grim on election night August 6, with only 1,600 yes votes cast. That was 62.8%, over the supermajority threshold, but not enough to be validated. State law required 2,091 “yes” votes, or 40% of the votes cast in the last general election, according to the Pierce County Auditor.
The overnight swing of the count surprised and delighted Morrow, but he was still being cautious.
“We’re only just squeezing by, and there could still be some ‘no’ votes lurking out there,” he said. But in the end, only 1,350 no votes were cast, not enough to overturn the result.
Turnout was modest, with only 28.9% of the district’s 12,394 registered voters casting ballots. But that was a fairly robust turnout for a non-general election — in fact, it was the highest turnout for any issue on the ballot, including Tacoma, Puyallup and Lakewood city council races.
Key Peninsula voters have routinely approved similar 6- or 10-year levies for decades, but this year the district was seeking to make the levy permanent.
“Just like fire departments everywhere, we are finding EMS is now most of our business,” Morrow said last week.
Last year, he noted, 1,329 calls of the 2,201 the department received were for medical emergencies, ranging from broken bones to heart attacks. He said the previous levy had raised about $1 million for EMS services.
The Key Peninsula department covers about 65 square miles with a population of roughly 20,000. It has six stations, 24 full-time firefighters, seven support staff and “a couple dozen for the most dedicated, competent volunteer firefighters you could ask for,” Morrow said. All of the career staff and some of the volunteers are certified paramedics or emergency medical technicians.
Morrow said the district’s board has already approved sending the issue to the voters again in November, but if the results hold, that may not be necessary. The elections bureau has until Tuesday, Aug. 20 to certify the election.
“I’ve heard from several commissioners already, and they’re very pleased,” the chief said. “We’re really grateful for the support we’re being shown by the voters.”
This story was originally published August 6, 2019 at 10:09 PM.