Public safety tax measure failing in early election results

Screenshot (463)In early results Tuesday night, a Snohomish County measure that would raise the sales tax by 0.2 percent was failing, with 50.65 percent of voters voting no.

The measure would provide funding for public safety and health programs, especially those targeted at helping the county’s heroin epidemic.

It would also give some Snohomish County cities the highest sales tax rates in the state.

The cities of Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Brier, for example, currently have a 9.8 percent sales tax and  that tax would be pushed to 10 percent if it passed. The nearby city of Mill Creek has the highest sales tax in the county at 9.9 percent and would be pushed to 10.1 percent if the measure is approved. For comparison, Seattle’s sales tax is 9.6 percent.

So far, 63,169 ballots have been counted, with 31,173 voting yes and 31,996 voting no.

The next vote count update is expected to be released after 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

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