Stevens County ballot contains big mistake

Stevens County officials warned Monday that there’s a mistake on the county’s Feb. 9 election ballot. An advisory question asks whether voters favor a one-tenth percent sales tax for county chemical dependency and mental health programs. The ballot title incorrectly says a yes vote would recommend “an increase from .076% to .077%” – understating the rates by a factor of 100. Actually, the rate would rise from 7.6 percent to 7.7 percent. Auditor Tim Gray said no corrected ballot will be issued. The vote has no legal effect because county commissioners will make the decision. Other items on the ballot include three routine school levies and a $4.3 million bond measure in the Columbia School District that would cost an estimated $3.65 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The 25-year bond measure would renovate the district’s school in Hunters. Among other improvements, the school’s gymnasium, library, multipurpose room and administrative offices would be replaced. A four-year replacement levy in the Colville School District would collect $2.4 million a year. The estimated rate would fall from $2.01 per thousand 2011 to $1.69 in 2014. The Valley School District – based in Valley, Wash. –proposes a four-year levy that would collect $152,000 a year at an estimated rate of $1.38 per thousand. The Springdale-based Mary Walker School District is seeking a three-year, $225,000-a-year levy that would cost an estimated $1.68 per thousand.