Clark County Fire District 6 will ask residents to vote this election on an 18 percent increase in the property tax levy that district officials say is needed to offset years of rising expenses.
The proposed levy increase would raise property taxes for district landowners from about $1.27 per $1,000 of their assessed property value to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.
For a District 6 homeowner in a $250,000 home, increasing the levy amount would mean about $57.50 more per year in property taxes paid to the district. Someone with a $250,000 home already pays about $3,000 a year in property taxes, depending on where that home sits in the district, since different taxing areas overlap.
When voters created it in 1995, the district’s regular levy was $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Barring a public vote, the total amount of property taxes collected can increase by only 1 percent per year, in keeping with a state law passed in 2007. As property values have risen, the levy rate has dropped to $1.27 per $1,000 to keep total revenue within that limit.
Even as regular 1 percent increases have increased total revenue each year, that revenue hasn’t kept pace with the district’s rising expenses, Chief Jerry Green said.
Increasing the “lid” on the levy, which is what voters will decide on come November, would give the district more flexibility in spending and planning, Green said.
More than 90 percent of the district’s revenue — about $14 million as budgeted for 2015 — comes from its levy.
The district encompasses about 37 square miles including Hazel Dell, Salmon Creek, Mount Vista, Felida, Sherwood, Lake Shore and the fairgrounds, and provides both fire and emergency medical services.