Jefferson County Fire District 2's (Quilcene Fire Rescue) first-ever EMS levy has passed with 74.85 percent approval as of the last count.

County elections officials counted 17 ballots April 28 toward that measure after counting some 43 on April 27. Officials do not expect to do another count until election is certified May 6. The levy requires 50 percent approval to pass.

Collections on the six-year property tax levy would begin in 2017 and bring in $165,000 annually at a rate of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.

In November 2014, voters approved a 50-cent increase in the department's fire levy, the first since that levy was created in 1988, bringing the rate to $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed value.

In January, Quilcene Fire Rescue Chief Larry Karp used a $396,000 federal grant to hire three full-time employees for the first time in the department's history.

The grant covers two years of employment for Lt. Mark McCrehin and Lt. Kevin Winn, both EMTs from Quilcene, as well as firefighter/paramedic Jess Godsalve of Poulsbo, all of whom were once resident volunteers with the department.

The levy provides enough money to keep those three employed beyond the grant's two-year life, Karp said, providing greater stability in staffing.

Prior to the levy's approval in the April 26 election, Quilcene had been the only fire department in Jefferson, Mason, Clallam and Kitsap counties without an EMS levy.