Voter Guide

Simple majority required.Ballot wording: Shall the Valle Ambulance District impose an additional one-half of one percent sales tax for a total sales tax of one percent for the purpose of providing revenues for the operation of Valle Ambulance District and the total property tax levy on properties in the Valle Ambulance District shall be reduced annually by an amount which reduces property tax revenues by an amount equal to fifty percent of the previous year’s revenue collected from this sales tax?Summary: The measure would allow the district to raise its half-cent sales tax, first collected in 2015, to 1 cent as now permitted by state law. If passed, the district would collect about $1.6 million in additional sales tax revenue annually, with half that amount offsetting a required reduction in the district's property tax rate. The increased revenue would allow the district to add a fourth fully-staffed ambulance to respond to calls now handled by other districts and to meet increasing costs. Supporters say the measure would provide an equitable way to share the costs of providing service while giving property tax relief. Opponents say the sales tax is regressive and the region's sales taxes are too high.