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 with an assessed value of $348,600 in 2026, EMC’s materials estimate an annual cost of $109.20 (about $10.75 per month); the county presented the incremental increase over the current levy as $54 annually (about $4.55 per month).

The proposed public safety replacement levy would run the same dates at 66 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. The packet estimate shown to the board illustrated the typical homeowner example above paying about $230 annually (about $19.17 per month) and an increase of roughly $71 per year (about $5.92 per month) over the current levy.

EMC Research summarized polling trends across four survey rounds (December, January, May and July) and three takeaways the firm emphasized: (1) broad consistency in county voters' sentiment about the county's direction; (2) roughly two‑thirds support for each levy in the July survey; and (3) relative resilience of support after a negative ‘‘pushback’’ message on cost of living, with both measures falling only modestly in that test condition.

County staff described outreach and timing: measures were filed with the elections office on July 10, ballot titles and descriptions completed, and a public education and outreach program already underway. Staff said direct‑mail safe‑harbor educational pieces are planned for the week before ballots arrive (ballots for most voters are scheduled to be mailed beginning Oct. 17) and that ballots will be counted after Election Day on Nov. 4. Staff also reported briefings with city councils (Cornelius and North Plains) and tabling at recent fairs.

Commissioners discussed presentation details and public reactions. One commissioner said an attendee at a North Plains meeting expressed confusion when staff presented five‑year revenue totals (for example, a $188,000,000 five‑year number for one levy and $329,000,000 for the other) and suggested emphasizing the per‑thousand rate and estimated monthly costs instead of large aggregate figures. County staff agreed to review how revenue estimates are displayed and to provide full crosstabs and the poll's underlying data to commissioners by email on request.

No board vote was taken at the Aug. 5 work session. The board agreed to move the final levy documents forward as formal action items at the board's Aug. 19 business meeting; staff said they would bring the final proposals and the refined presentation materials then. EMC and county staff repeated a standard caveat: polling is a snapshot several months before the election and economic or other external events between July and Election Day could change voter behavior.

The county thanked the steering committees and the subject‑matter experts who supported the polling and outreach work; EMC personnel on the record included Sienna and the named team (Ian, Cianna, Jessica and Mandeep). Staff identified the Secretary of State's office as the reviewer for non‑advocacy educational materials and said they are seeking that safe‑harbor review for mailers and slide materials.

Next steps: staff will provide full poll crosstabs to commissioners, refine presentation materials to avoid confusing five‑year aggregate revenue figures, continue outreach through Labor Day and beyond, and put the final levy proposals on the Aug. 19 business meeting agenda for formal board action.