A new five-year levy will finance fire protection in Cannon Beach.

CANNON BEACH — Voters in November narrowly approved a new five-year levy to finance operations at the Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District.

Measure 4-226 passed 51% to 49% — or by 15 votes — after remaining ballots were counted, Clatsop County reported in updated election results last week.

The levy, which will help fund administrative staff and add three paid firefighters, will cost $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value and generate about $10.6 million over five years. For a home assessed at $420,000, the levy will cost about $630 a year.

The new levy will replace and consolidate the expiring levies and bond — including two five-year levies that support the fire chief’s position, a second commanding officer and equipment replacement. A five-year bond finances a ladder truck.

Combined with a permanent tax rate of 35 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, the new levy increases the total tax rate from 98 cents to $1.85 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Fire Chief Marc Reckmann said that while the increase puts the tax rate in line with other districts of similar size and needs along the coast, he acknowledged the jump was a big ask compared to what ratepayers have paid in the past.

“But it makes Cannon Beach fire district sustainable,” he said. “And that was the whole goal of the levy — was sustainability.”

Like other fire departments on the North Coast, the fire district, which serves Cannon Beach, Arch Cape, Cove Beach and Falcon Cove, has experienced increased calls for service and a decrease in volunteer firefighters.

Reckmann attributed the loss of volunteers in Cannon Beach to a shortage of housing and a shift in the demographic makeup of the community.

The loss in volunteers has put more pressure on fire districts to add paid staff.

A proposed levy for the Mist-Birkenfeld Rural Fire Protection District, which covers parts of Clatsop and Columbia counties, failed 58% to 42% — or by 48 votes.

Measure 5-297, which would have been the fire district’s first levy, proposed a tax rate of $1.10 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The levy, which would cost the average homeowner about $330 a year, would have generated about $2.2 million over five years.

While voters in Clatsop County favored the levy, voters in Columbia County overwhelmingly rejected the measure.

The fire district initially pursued the measure in the May election, and Fire Chief Joe Kaczenski attributed the levy’s failure to a poor job of communicating the need.

When the measure appeared to again fail after initial results in November, Kaczenski told The Astorian he felt the fire district did a better job of communicating the need this time around.

He said the fire district needs to add paid staff to maintain coverage. He said the board would regroup and decide how to move forward.

Kaczenski noted that leading up to the election there was a lot of misinformation being spread about the measure on social media, and said he hoped it did not contribute to the levy failing.

Measure 4-225, a five-year levy to help finance the Warrenton Police Department, was overwhelmingly approved by voters 74% to 26%.

Voter turnout in Clatsop County in November was 34%.