BRINNON — Eight percent of registered voters have returned ballots in the April 28 special election to renew the Brinnon Fire Department’s emergency medical services property tax levy and make it permanent.
Ballots were mailed April 8 to the 967 registered voters in the fire department district. As of Monday, 78 had returned ballots, for a return rate of 8.07 percent, the Jefferson County Auditor said.
The Brinnon levy is the only measure on either the Jefferson or Clallam county ballots for the April 28 election
Brinnon Fire Department’s present levy of 50 cents per $1,000 property tax valuation, which became effective in 2010, required a simple majority when it passed in 2009.
To make it permanent — at the same amount — requires a 60 percent supermajority.
Without passage of the levy, emergency medical services would be severely limited, Fire Chief Patrick Nicholson has said.
The department would be unable to provide regular ambulance response and would cease transportation to the hospital at the end of fiscal year 2015, he added.
Nicholson said the department’s yearly budget is $590,960, which includes $380,460 for fire and $210,500 for emergency medical services.
By law, the levy could be established initially only for a five-year term, he said, but now it can be made permanent.
Portion of Jefferson property taxes due April 30
PORT TOWNSEND — The first installment of property taxes is due Thursday, April 30.
Mailed payments must be postmarked by April 30 to avoid penalty and interest charges.
Taxes may be paid in person at the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
There are five drop boxes in Jefferson County for payment by check in the month of April:
■ Drop box in rear parking lot of the courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend.
■ Bank of America, 734 Water St., Port Townsend.
■ Bank of America, 10 Oak Bay Road, Port Hadlock.
■ Sound Community Bank, 9500 Oak Bay Road, Port Ludlow.
■ US Bank, 14890 Center Road, Quilcene.
Credit card payments may be made online at www.co.jefferson.wa.us/treasurer or by phone at 877-812-8072.
Instructions for either option are on the back of the tax statement, and a 2.5 percent fee is charged by the service provider for credit card payments.
For more payment options, instructions or fee amounts, visit the Jefferson County Treasurer’s website at www.co.jefferson.wa.us/treasurer or phone the Treasurer’s Office at 360-385-9150.
Art Club begins
PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center’s after-school Art Club, a program for children age 6 to 12, starts a new session today at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St., and continues each Tuesday through April 28.
Each class meets from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., and the theme this month is printmaking: block prints, multimedia and monoprinting.
The cost is $45 for the session, and parents can register their kids by contacting the fine arts center via pafaced.org or 360-457-3532.