PORT ANGELES — Nearly 40 percent of the ballots mailed for the May 19 metropolitan park district election have been returned to the Clallam County Auditor’s Office.
The office mailed 19,167 ballots to voters beginning April 29 and had received 7,518 completed ballots by Wednesday. That brings voter participation to 39.23 percent.
All ballots must be postmarked or hand-carried to the auditor’s office at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles, by 8 p.m. May 19.
A drop box is located outside of the courthouse.
The park district would raise property tax estimated at 15 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation on property within the boundaries of the Port Angeles School District to fund a gap between revenue and expenses for the William Shore Memorial Pool.
The levy would cost the owner of a $200,000 home — the median price of a home within the school district — about $30 a year.
The city stopped funding the pool on March 30, and it has been funded by donations mostly raised by Save the Pool PA since.
If the ballot measure fails, the pool will close.
The city estimated the funding gap would be about $400,000 for all of 2009.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.