NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF BALLOT TITLE

NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF BALLOT TITLE Filed in the Office of County Clerk 2/25/2021 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a ballot title for a measure to be referred by Scappoose Rural Fire Protection District 1J has been filed with the Columbia County Clerk February 25th, 2021. A measure election will be held within the boundaries of the district on May 18th, 2021. The election will be conducted by mail. The ballot title caption is: Replacement five-year local option levy for emergency service operations Caption Replacement five-year local option levy for emergency service operations Question Shall District levy $1.99 per $1,000 of assessed value for five years beginning 2021-2022 for emergency service operations? This may cause property taxes to increase more than three percent. Summary Scappoose Rural Fire Protection District provides fire, rescue, and emergency medical services. With this measure, the District’s elected Board of Directors is asking voters to replace the current local option levy of $1.24 per $1,000 of assessed value. In 2020 SRFD responded to 1,916 calls of which 40% were overlapping medical call, which is a 15% increase from 2016. The community’s demand for fire and EMS response is increasing. The current local option levy funds over 60% of operations for fire and ambulance response for the district. This proposed levy will retain all current emergency response staff and add three additional 24-hour positions. This will fund 2 ambulances 24/7 and improve response times with overlapping calls. The new local option levy would increase the existing levy by $0.75, making this new local option levy $1.99 per $1,000 of assessed value and will begin 7/1/2021. The new rate of $1.99/$1000 on a home with a $200,000 assessed value would increase your taxes $150. The levy would raise approximately $2,668,639 in 20212022, $2,745,608 in 2022-2023, $2,827,977 in 2023-2024, $2,912,816 in 2024-2025, and $3,000,200 in 2025-2026, for a total of $14,155,040. Any elector of the district may file a petition for review of this ballot title in the Columbia County Circuit Court no later than 5:00 p.m. Monday, March 8th, 2021 (which is the 7th business day after receipt). The challenger must notify the Columbia County Clerk’s Office in writing not later than 5:00 p.m. on the next business day following the day the petition for review is filed (ORS 255.155). This notice is published pursuant to ORS 255.145(5) by Elizabeth E. Huser, Columbia County Clerk. Published March 5, 2021. CCS194611

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