The April 23rd King County ballot measure to merge Fall City Fire District 27 with Fire District 10 – and become part of the Eastside Fire & Rescue service area – was failing in first election results.
With about 42% of ballots counted on election night – and approximately 46% of ballots returned – the no votes were at 54.70% and yes votes at 45.30%.
There are approximately 3800 registered voters in Fall City Fire District 27 who were mailed ballots for the April special election.
King County Elections will continue to update the results each afternoon around 4PM as more ballots are tallied. Election results will be certified on May 3rd.
King County Fire District 27 serves Fall City. District 10 includes unincorporated King County areas of Carnation, Issaquah, Sammamish and Renton and is currently served by Eastside Fire & Rescue (EF&R).
The proposed merger meant District 27’s current Maintenance of Operation levy that funds the Fall City Fire Department would have been replaced by a fire benefit charge and increased staffing levels to three career firefighters.
Firefighters had been vocal in their support of the measure, saying it would increase service and training while lowering taxes for most homeowners, but some Fall City residents said there was no problem that needed fixing and wanted to maintain community control of the department.
