Voter deadlines approach for Feb. 14 special election

With the ink barely dried on the November General Election, attention is moving to the upcoming special election slated for Feb. 14. Towns and school districts have already submitted proposals for local voters to consider.

The elections office has announced voter registration deadlines for the upcoming election.

Address updates for those who have moved need to be completed on or before Jan. 16. This can be accomplished online through the Secretary of State website.

Voters who are new to the state or voting for the first time can register up to eight days prior to the election, and that registration must be completed in person if it is after Jan. 16.

In-person registration can be completed at the elections office in Colfax, located at 304 N. Main St., or at the Pullman city clerk’s office at 325 SE Paradise St. The in-person registration deadline is Feb. 6.

Debbie Hooper, elections supervisor, said ballots are set to be mailed Jan. 27 to voters in the relevant precincts. She noted ballots could be available as early as Jan. 25 at the elections office for anyone who needs them ahead of time.

Voting machines will be available starting Jan. 27 for those who are visually, hearing or physically impaired. The machines will be available at the elections office in Colfax.

All of the measures have already been placed on the ballot with the deadline for filing having been Dec. 16.

Four Whitman County towns have measures on the ballot.

Colton’s school district is seeking a special tax levy of $532,165, at an estimated $3.93 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The maintenance and operation levy would be collected in 2018.

The Lamont School District also has a levy on the ballot. It is a two-year replacement maintenance and operation proposal totaling $340,000 in the two years with a collection rate of $3.96 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. It would be collected in 2018 and 2019.

Tekoa’s park and recreation district proposes a maintenance and operation levy. The $75,000 levy would be collected in 2018 at an estimated $1.04 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Voters in Rosalia will face the largest ballot. First, the town is seeking a special excess tax levy of $3.35 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

The levy, which would total $69,000, would be collected in 2018 and would be used for the city street fund to help defray costs of street lights, seal coating, shoulder work, capital improvements, equipment and regular maintenance of city streets.

The Rosalia park and recreation district seeks a special excess tax levy in order to collect $72,000 for the town’s swimming pool for maintenance and operation. That levy would come in at 41 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

Rosalia school district is seeking a levy for capital improvements. This levy would allow the school to make safety, security and infrastructure improvements, and the levy collection rate would be $1.14 per $1,000 of assessed property value. At that rate the levy would collect $200,000 each in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Whitman County voters in the Cheney School District will also receive a ballot. The levy is intended to help alleviate overcrowding and improve infrastructure and security. The proposition would authorize the district to expand and renovate and make security improvements at Cheney High School, Sunset Elementary School, Windsor Elementary School and Betz Elementary School. It also authorizes security improvements at Salnave Elementary School, and it asks voters to approve the acquisition of land and the relocation of the Three Springs High School portables. The levy totals no more than $52 million of general obligation bonds maturing within 21 years.

The 2017 February special election voters’ guide can be found online: whitmancounty.org, under the auditor’s tab.