Two more casualties of Tuesday’s
election in West Virginia were in Lincoln County
“Those levies are critical to emergency
services in the county,” said Lincoln County Emergency Services Director Allen
Holder.
The ambulance levy was for $440,000
dollars over five years. The fire protection levy was also a five year levy
worth $500,000 and was split evenly among the county’s eight volunteer fire
departments. The money helped pay for fuel, insurance, equipment, and building
maintenance for each fire department. They had been in place continually since
the early 1980s.
“I think there was a lot of people
coming to the polls and they were just angry about the current situation in
government,” said Holder. “They just voted against anything that looked like
the norm.”
The levies received a majority of the
votes, but needed 60 percent voter approval. Holder said they are waiting for
the canvas next week to determine what their next move will be. The fire levy
received 59.17 percent approval. The ambulance levy had 57.76 approval. A few
vote changes in the canvas could reverse the outcome. However, Holder said they
will need to make some tough decisions.
“I can assure you if we don’t get the
levy in place it’s going to result in a reduction in services in both the fire
services and the ambulances services,” he said. “We’re in a position now where
we need to increase the funding for those services, not decrease it.”
If they levy’s fail to survive the canvas there are discussions
about a special levy election after the first of the year since each levy is in
place through the end of June.
