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Posts for Steve Hawley

Significant Changes Coming to Levy Lid Lifts in 2026

April 15, 2026  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  New Legislation and Regulations ,  Property Taxes

The 101% levy lid restricts local property taxes, but taxing districts can increase property tax revenues through voter-approved levy lid lifts. Starting July 1, HB 2442—the “fiscal flexibility” bill—makes important changes to both single-year and multi-year levy lid lifts.

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Where Do Our Sales Taxes Go?

February 2, 2026  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Sales and Use Taxes

Have you ever wondered exactly where local sales taxes go, or why one jurisdiction has higher (or lower) sales taxes than another?  MRSC's online tools can help provide some answers.

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November 2025 Ballot Measures: Counties and Special Purpose Districts

December 17, 2025  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  County Officials ,  Port Districts ,  Fire Protection ,  Parks and Recreation Districts ,  Ballot Measures ,  Special Districts ,  Property Taxes ,  Sales and Use Taxes

Levy lid lifts, bond measures, sales taxes, charter amendments, and a ban on cannabis sales and production:These and more were proposed county and/or special purpose district ballot measures voters tackled in the November 2025 general election. 

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A voter putting their ballot into a mailbox

November 2025 Ballot Measures: Cities and Towns

December 15, 2025  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Public Safety and Welfare ,  Annexation ,  Parks and Recreation Finance ,  Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Programs ,  Transportation Finance ,  Licensing and Regulation ,  Ballot Measures ,  Business Licenses and Taxes ,  Property Taxes ,  City and Town Officials

A large number of city/town public safety local ballot measures appeared in the 2025 November general election, alongside those for transportation and parks and rec programs. Also appearing were a few charter amendments, citizens initiatives, and advisory votes. 

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Recapping the August 2025 Local Ballot Measures

September 10, 2025  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Emergency Medical Services ,  Fire Protection ,  Parks and Recreation Districts ,  Transportation Finance ,  Law Enforcement ,  Ballot Measures ,  Property Taxes ,  Natural Resources

Library levies, fire district measures, and sales taxes for law enforcement or 911 programs fared well; other local ballot measure results were mixed.

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How Did Local Ballot Measures Fare in the November 2024 General Election?

December 9, 2024  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Parks, Recreation, and Culture ,  Transportation ,  Emergency Medical Services ,  Fire Protection ,  Revenues ,  Minimum Wage ,  Law Enforcement ,  Ballot Measures ,  Special Districts

Tax-related initiatives struggled to gain voter approval in the 2024 November general election, and it was a mixed bag for other local ballot measures across the state. 

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Sunset with Port of Everett in background

Recapping the August 2024 Local Ballot Measure Results

September 4, 2024  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Parks, Recreation, and Culture ,  Transportation ,  Port Districts ,  Emergency Medical Services ,  Fire Protection ,  Law Enforcement ,  Ballot Measures

Local governments placed 90 ballot measures in the August primary election, including many levy lid lift proposals, various public safety taxes, fire benefit charges, a citywide cannabis sales ban, and proposed service expansions.

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three construction workers looking at a blueprint

Introducing MRSC’s New Small Works Roster Manual!

July 10, 2024  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  MRSC News and Updates ,  Purchasing and Contracting

Starting July 1, there are new laws for small works roster (construction) contracts under $350,000, including an option to “direct contract” under $150,000. We’ve published new guidance to explain the requirements, and public agencies will need to adopt new procedures.

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A website updating on a laptop and cell phone

Website Changes Make It Easier to Explore MRSC Topics

February 26, 2024  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  MRSC News and Updates

Have you ever found it hard to find the right information on our website even though you know it has to be there? We've now made it easier to explore all the content, including the ability to browse new topic areas or view all topic webpages in alphabetical order.

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Two people ride bikes through a park

Recapping the November 2023 Local Ballot Measure Results

December 13, 2023  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Courts and Criminal Justice System ,  Parks and Recreation Finance ,  Housing ,  Emergency Medical Services ,  Fire Protection ,  Homelessness ,  Law Enforcement ,  Ballot Measures

There were a 113 ballot measures before voters this past November, in an off-year election that drew record-low voter turnouts. How did that impact levy lid lifts requests, newly proposed districts, or citizen's initiatives? 

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Empty outdoor public swimming pool waiting for swimmers

Ballot Measure Highlights from the August 2023 Primary Election

August 21, 2023  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Annexation ,  Parks and Recreation Facilities ,  Ballot Measures ,  Special Districts ,  Property Taxes

Primary elections generally see some ballot measures succeed and some fail across the state. This past August, libraries, rec centers, and fire districts fared well, but public hospital districts saw mixed success. And, as always,  levy lid lift measures achieved mixed results.

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New guidance icon on blackboard with close up of hands tapping on a laptop

New Public Works Guidance from MRSC

July 11, 2023  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  MRSC News and Updates ,  Purchasing and Contracting

Thanks to state funding and new partnerships, MRSC continues to build its procurement and contracting resources for local governments, including resources on making contracting more inclusive (as well as general best practices) and an updated Small Works Rosters manual.

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A voter putting their ballot into a mailbox

Recapping the February and April 2023 Ballot Measure Results

May 15, 2023  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Fire Protection ,  Health and Human Services ,  Ballot Measures

Regional fire authorities, fire district mergers, hospital funding, and a regional crisis care center network were some of the local ballot measures that appeared before voters in the February and April special elections.

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The ladder of a toy firetruck leans against a tall stack of coins

Multi-Year Levy Lid Lifts: A Tool for Coping with Inflation?

April 5, 2023  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Property Taxes

Inflation is at a 40-year high, but property tax revenues are limited to a 1% increase each year. Multi-year levy lid lifts can help local governments cope with these inflationary pressures — but will voters approve them? Let’s look at the data.

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Recapping the November 2022 Ballot Measure Results

December 7, 2022  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Revenues ,  Transportation Finance ,  Ballot Measures

As with many past elections, this past November brought voters over 100 local ballot measures across the state, from libraries to bond measures to levy lid lifts. New this year, however, were several measures involving ranked-choice voting and home rule charter propositions.

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How Local Ballot Measures Fared in the 2021 General Election

November 10, 2021  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Courts and Criminal Justice System ,  Transportation Finance ,  Forms of Government-City ,  Forms of Government-County ,  Inclusive Communities ,  Ballot Measures

From changes in governance to funding for criminal justice, libraries, and transportation, this blog covers many local ballot measures across the state and how these issues fared in the recent general election.

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Ballot Measure Results from the 2020 General Election

November 12, 2020  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Parks and Recreation Finance ,  Fire Protection ,  Transportation Finance ,  Forms of Government-County ,  Law Enforcement ,  Ballot Measures

This blog post recaps some of the local ballot measure results from the November 2020 general election and discusses why the record-breaking turnout may make ballot measure validation tougher next year.

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Ballot Measure Results from the 2019 General Election

November 12, 2019  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Public Transit ,  Housing ,  Forms of Government-City ,  Ballot Measures

This blog post provides a brief summary of I-976 as well as many of the city, county, and special purpose district ballot measure results across the state.

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Ballot Measure Results from the 2019 Primary Election

August 13, 2019  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Emergency Medical Services ,  Fire Protection ,  Ballot Measures ,  Sales and Use Taxes

Senior Communications Coordinator Steve Hawley reviews some ballot measure results from the recent primary election in this blog post. 

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2018 General Election Part 1: Local Sales Tax Edition

November 13, 2018  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Ballot Measures ,  Sales and Use Taxes

There were a number of interesting sales taxes on the ballot this year for public safety, transit, and TBDs, as well as Tacoma’s first-of-its-kind cultural access program. We’ll also briefly discuss I-1634, which prohibits local soda taxes.

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