Two property tax measures appearing on the April 25 special election ballot were widely unpopular among Snoqualmie Valley residents, according to precinct-level election data analyzed by the Valley Record.
Data from King County Elections showed both the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District Levy Lid Lift and King County Crisis Cares Levy failed to find much support anywhere in the Valley. Both measures were asking voters to approve a property tax increase.
Locally, the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital wanted to approve a tax hike of roughly 46 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value that would be used to expand the hospital’s reach and replace aging equipment.
Voters overwhelmingly rejected the levy, evident by its 33% final approval rate.
Support varied somewhat across the hospital district, which covers nearly all of the Snoqualmie Valley between the southern Duvall city limit and the Snoqualmie Pass. Data showed opposition to the measure was consistent regardless of area.
Within district cities, the levy performed best among North Bend voters, who supported the levy by a rate of 38% across its 1,900 cast ballots. North Bend city limits also held the only precinct where the majority of voters supported the levy.
Carnation trailed slightly behind North Bend, with 37% approval among the 530 ballots cast.
Snoqualmie voters had an approval rate of 33% on nearly 3,000 ballots.
Voters in unincorporated areas of the hospital district, who accounted for about half of the overall ballots, had a slightly lower approval rate, 29%, than their city counterparts.
Sammamish, which has one precinct inside hospital district limits with just 150 votes cast, approved the levy at a rate of 21%.
Crisis Care Levy
Valley residents also opposed King County’s Crisis Care Levy, going against the county as a whole.
The crisis care levy was looking to increase property taxes to support behavioral health improvements by building new walk-in facilities, adding treatment beds and supporting staff retention. The levy will collect about 15 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value in its first year.
The measure was widely supported by King County voters as a whole, drawing a 56% approval rate, but failed to replicate that support among Snoqualmie Valley residents.
Among Valley voters residing between the southern Duvall city limit and Snoqualmie Pass, the measure received a 43% approval rate.
The measure was most unpopular in the Valley among unincorporated residents, who voted in favor by a rate of 39%.
Snoqualmie and Carnation each had approval rates of 47%. Snoqualmie had over 2,500 votes cast and Carnation had 532.
North Bend trailed behind slightly at 45% approval on almost 1,900 ballots.
