April Hospital Levy election may be postponed

POMEROY–Garfield County Auditor Donna Deal reported on a conference call with the Washington Secretary of State she participated in regarding the upcoming April election. It was stated twelve counties in the state have April elections planned, including Garfield County. Seven of those counties have already decided on their own to cancel their elections. The Secretary of State will be making a decision by Tuesday, March 17, 2020, for the remaining five counties. She stated that if 75% of the counties decide to cancel elections, she will cancel them all for the state. The only item on the April ballot in Garfield County is the Garfield County Hospital District’s Special Levy, which would have to be postponed to either August or November. According to GCHD Commissioner Mike Field, it would not really matter because the funding from a successful levy vote would not be available to them until January, 2021, which would be the same for an August or November election.