Washington County polling shows steady two‑thirds support for replacement library and public safety levies; staff to bring final proposals to Aug. 19 meeting

Washington County officials and an outside pollster told the Board of Commissioners on Aug. 5 that likely November 2025 voters remain broadly supportive of two replacement local option levies — one for libraries and one for public safety — and that staff will present final levy documents as action items at the board's Aug. 19 meeting.

The county presented results from the latest multimodal (phone and web) survey of a representative sample of likely November voters conducted in late July. Sienna of EMC Research, the firm's presenter, said the July poll interviewed 400 likely voters and carried a margin of error of about plus or minus 5 percentage points; January polling had a larger sample and a smaller margin of error. "We are at about two‑thirds support," EMC Research told the board when reporting topline results for both measures.

County staff and the pollster emphasized why the numbers matter. The proposed library replacement levy would run July 2026 through June 2031 at a fixed rate of 37 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. Using the county's example of a typical homeowner…