Voters are approving an $18 million bond that would pay for significant upgrades in the Yakima County Fire District, according to Tuesday night’s preliminary election results.
So far, the bond was being approved by 65.9% of the total, or 1,319 votes to 681, preliminary results showed.
The bond measure would cost residents $0.28 per $1,000 of assessed property value. For example, the owner of a $300,000 property would pay $84 a year.
The bond would pay for the expansion of three fire stations, build and equip a new headquarters station with a larger dispatch center and acquire new fire apparatus. Fire District 5 is composed of 15 fire stations and covers 800 square miles of rural landscape in the Lower Valley, making it the state’s second-largest fire district.