A pair of levies meant to boost funding for the Lane Fire Authority and the South Lane Fire & Rescue District appeared headed for defeat in Tuesday's Special Election.
The Lane Fire Authority asked voters to approve a larger operating levy. Officials with the district, which provides fire and emergency services to more than miles of 280 square miles of Lane County—primarily west of Eugene— told KLCC the agency's call volume had increased 20% since the last time voters approved the levy.
But in preliminary returns Tuesday evening, voters appeared to reject the proposed increase to the levy. Election night returns showed the measure failing 53% - 47%, with a margin of 331 votes separating the "no" votes from the "yes" votes.
South of Eugene, a proposed doubling of a levy that funds the South Lane Fire & Rescue District was also failing in preliminary returns, by a nearly identical margin to the Lane Fire Authority's levy.
The district, which serves Cottage Grove, Creswell and surrounding areas, said the increased levy would pay for more on-duty firefighters and an additional ambulance crew. It was failing by 469 votes Tuesday evening.
The Lane County Elections office plans to release another batch of results by 5 p.m. Wednesday.
