District approves 1 percent hike

The Point Roberts Hospital District board of commissioners voted in favor of taking a 1 percent hike in its annual levy at a special board meeting held November 27. Taxing districts in Washington state are allowed to take an annual 1 percent hike without seeking voter approval. The move came as the board approved the district’s 2024 budget.

The projected 2024 levy totals $291,723, up $2,881 from 2023’s $288,120. Total expenses are projected to equal income (including refund of $722), or $291,723.

The district’s top 5 expenses are:

$192,000 – contracted annual cost of the district’s medical provider SuperTrack;

$20,000 – Superintendent wages

$19,718 – Clinic rent payable to the Point Roberts fire district

$6,500 – Cleaning services

$6,500 – Secretarial

There are four local taxing districts in Point Roberts – the fire, parks, hospital and cemetery districts. The fire district received voter approval in this month’s general election for a levy lift from $0.69 per $1,000 valuation to $1.14 while the parks district received voter approval for a six-year levy based on $0.215 per $1,000 valuation from 2023’s $0.135 per $1,000. The cemetery district’s taxes in 2023 totaled just $6,875.