According to initial primary results, 50.43 percent of voters were rejecting the proposition, which would increase taxes by about $155 a year on a $231,000 home. But the margin between rejection and approval was just 27 votes.
Ballots that were postmarked Tuesday but did not arrive at the Auditor's Office will be processed and counted today. There were also 500 unresolved ballots countywide. A ballot run is expected by 5 p.m.
Mayor Pete Kmet said he was hopeful that there were enough votes in the remaining ballots to turn the tide. However, he said that it would be a difficult margin to make up and that recent bad news on the world economy could make a difference.
"We're hopeful," he said.
The higher property taxes would help the city's emergency services catch up with the growth seen in Tumwater during the past decade. As the city's population has more than doubled, the city has not added any new firefighters or police officers. The measure would also have allowed expansion of the city's cramped police station and replacement of aging fire equipment.
Approval by voters would have allowed the city to collect a higher property tax rate beginning next year, with an estimated $1.44 million coming in for 2012.
The city laid out a plan for hiring personnel, expanding the police station and saving funds to purchase new fire engines. Here's a look at what the city was proposing:
n Hire three firefighters to begin staffing the North End Station, which has been mostly vacant the past few years. Though the new hires wouldn't provide full staffing, the city hopes to staff it about one-third of the time. Currently the city has been unable to meet fire response time goals about 42 percent of the time.
n Hire two patrol officers and a school resource officer. The two patrol officers would supplement nighttime staffing, where about half the time the department is down to two officers.
n Construct a 5,000-square-foot expansion to the police station wing of City Hall. Money would also be used to remodel the current police station, including its heating system. The department also says insufficient space creates an unsafe prisoner holding area and not enough room for investigations, operations and victim assistance.
n Set up a fund to purchase and replace aging fire trucks. Both primary and reserve engines are about to exceed age standards.
Nate Hulings: 360-754-5476
nhulings@theolympian.com
www.theolympian.com/outsideoly
