Law Enforcement levy passes in Humboldt

Humboldt voters said yes by a two-to-one margin Tuesday, yes to continuing the unified law enforcement levy. Not a new tax, but one city taxpayers have been paying since 1986. “Shall an annual levy, the amount of which will not exceed a rate of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value of the taxable property in the Unified Law Enforcement district be authorized for providing additional monies needed for unified law enforcement services in the district?” The final tally was 146 “yes” votes to 70 “no” to the aforementioned question. Most of the voters were at the polling place at Humboldt City Hall on Tuesday. There were nine absentee ballots, two “yes” votes and seven “no” votes. The unified law enforcement levy has been in place for the past 30 years to pay for the city of Humboldt’s shared cost with Humboldt County for the operations and maintenance of the Humboldt County Law Enforcement Center. The city pays 30 percent of the cost and the county pays 70 percent. The expense covers things such as emergency dispatching, police department office space, evidence storage and building upkeep. The levy also pays for the city contract with Humboldt County for the services of Sheriff Dean Kruger to serve as police administrator. For the current budget year, the levy is at $1.13 per $1,000 of property valuation, raising $153,900 in revenue. For fiscal 2016, the levy is expected to decrease to $1.07 per $1,000, generating an estimated $149,000. A failed vote would have required finding the money from the city’s general fund, which would have meant delayed capital purchases and possible expense and service cuts to several city departments. Read more on this story in the March 12 issue of The Humboldt Independent.