Voters easily OK funding for North Country EMS

Voters in north Clark and south Cowlitz counties have once again decided to maintain a key funding tool for North Country Emergency Medical Services.

Early results from Tuesday night’s primary show voters throwing broad support behind a ballot measure designed to uphold a long-standing excess property tax levy that raises money for the Yacolt-based ambulance provider.

The measure needed approval from at least 60 percent of the voters to pass. About 77 percent of the voters in North Country’s service area, which includes a portion of south Cowlitz County, supported the measure.

The levy charges homeowners in the service area $1.50 for every $1,000 of assessed value of their homes for one year. The money goes toward funding North Country’s expenses for supplies and salaries for the next three years.

Overall, the revenue covers about one-third of the service’s operating budget. And voters get to decide whether to maintain the levy every three to five years.

North Country has been in operation since 1976, and the property tax levy has long had strong support from voters. In all, the service covers about 1,000 square miles in parts of north and northeast Clark, southeast Cowlitz and west central Skamania counties.

Before the vote, supporters of the levy said it would be difficult to maintain staffing levels without the funding. North Country staff estimate the levy will raise about $112,000 from Yacolt residents and more than $1.6 million from others in the service area outside the town.