West End voters supported Forks Community Hospital and Cape Flattery public school districts in the recent special election.
In Clallam County, voter turnout as of 8 p.m. Tuesday was 24.55 percent, with 1,736 ballots counted out of 7,070 provided to registered voters.
• Forks Community Hospital — The levy lid lift for Forks Community Hospital (Clallam County Public Hospital District No. 1) won 591 votes, or 55.86 percent, in favor and 467 votes, or 44.14 percent, opposed.
The levy represents a significant part of the hospital’s annual operating budget of more than $40 million, CFO Paul Babcock has said. It helps support the OB-GYN program and assists in paying for charity care. Last year the hospital provided almost $900,000 in assistance for patients who were unable to pay for all or some of their care.
The levy lid lift would restore the property tax rate to 75 cents per $1,000 assessed value, the maximum allowed under state law. The levy rate has declined from 75 cents in 2006 — the last time the hospital asked voters for a levy increase — to the current rate of 42.8 cents.
The hospital will collect an additional $320,000 a year — almost double the $350,000 it currently collects.
Cape Flattery schools — The Cape Flattery School District’s four-year, $1.8 million education programs and operations replacement levy won 139 votes, or 60.96 percent, in favor and 89 votes, or 39.04 percent, opposed.
The EP&O levy will cost taxpayers $1.84 per $1,000 in assessed property value over the next four years when the current levy expires in 2024. It will collect $439,860 in 2024 for 2025; $453,055 in 2025 for 2026; $466,647 in 2026 for 2027; and $480,646 in 2027 for 2028.
Monies from Cape Flattery’s EP&O levy bridge the gap between state funding and what it costs the district to operate. Among those costs are paraeducator, counselor and school nurse salaries, as well as supplies and materials, technology upgrades and extracurricular activities like athletics.
Levy funds are earmarked for Clallam Bay School and its 100 K-12 students because the revenue is collected in that community.
The Cape Flattery School Board approved an increase in the value of the levy, but it is lower than the maximum of $2.50 per $1,000 in assessed value districts that are allowed under state law.
