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The results of the countywide balloting were announced Wednesday afternoon at a meeting of the Vector Control Board of Trustees, held at the district's headquarters in Lakeport.
The annual assessment is expected to bring in about $500,000 a year to the district, which currently has an annual budget of about $1.3 million.
Single family homes equivalents in Zone A – making up most of the county – will pay an average annual amount of $13.96, while single family homes in Zone B, located in more remote areas and including Bureau of Land Management and Mendocino National Forest lands, will be assessed $6.98 annually.
The maximum annual assessment is to be adjusted no more than 3 percent annually based on the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco Bay Area.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley, who tabulated the ballots, issued a report stating that 14,494 ballots were received out of 42,784 mailed to county residents. That represents a ballot return rate of 33.8 percent.
In all, 14,193 valid ballots were processed, according to Fridley. The assessment value of all of those processed ballots is $186,074.75.
Of those, there were 8,956 valid “yes” votes, for a return rate of 63.10 percent unweighted, or 57.74 percent weighted by assessment.
There were 5,237 valid “No” votes, for an unweighted return rate of 36.8 percent or 42.3 percent weighted by assessment, according to Fridley. The assessed value of those no votes was $78,628.23.
The Vector Control board held a public hearing at the courthouse on June 30 as part of the Proposition 218 process, which covers assessment and rate hikes. The district took comment at that time from several area residents who questioned the need for the assessment and how the balloting was being conducted.
At the end of that meeting, the balloting – which had begun early in May – officially closed.
The public hearing was continued to Tuesday, but no community members were present to make statements or ask questions.
Trustee Chuck Leonard told District Manager Dr. Jamesina Scott that the district did a good job in presenting the assessment to the community.
Leonard said he hadn't expected the assessment to pass, which is why he had voted against spending the money on it.
Scott previously reported that the district had paid about $126,000 in consulting, printing and mailing fees in order to take the assessment to the community.
Following the report on the balloting results, the board unanimously approved a resolution confirming the engineer's report on the assessment and ordering levy of the assessment for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
