Snohomish County Proposition No. 5 - Requiring a 4/5 Supermajority Council Vote to Increase Taxes
November 3, 2026 · Snohomish County, Washington · County
How do we calculate vote impact?
Vote impact = representation (how much weight one vote carries here, the smaller the district's population, the higher the representation) + decisiveness (how likely this race is to be close, based on past results and number of candidates).
Representation: Low · 14 out of 100
This district is large for its type, so each vote is a smaller slice of the outcome. About 844,430 people live here.
score = 100 × ln(largest population ÷ this district's) ÷ ln(largest ÷ smallest), rounded to 2 decimals = 100 × ln(2,287,171 ÷ 844,430) ÷ ln(2,287,171 ÷ 2,353) = 14.48, comparing counties in WA (grades: 66+ high, 33+ average, otherwise low)
Ballot measure: +1 step
Your vote sets the policy directly, so the rating gets a one-step boost.
Low representation + a ballot-measure boost → Average vote impact.
Ballot Measure
Government Efficiency (for), Government Spending Reduction (for)
Amends the county charter so that, after January 1, 2027, the County Council needs four of its five members' votes — instead of a simple majority — to create a new tax or raise a tax rate on its own authority, without a public vote. Fees, rates, charges, special assessments, taxes already in place by that date, and renewals that do not raise the rate are not covered.
A YES vote means
A yes vote requires four of the five council members to agree before the council can create or raise a covered tax on its own after January 1, 2027.
A NO vote means
A no vote keeps the current simple-majority council vote for those tax decisions.
Read the official measure text
Source: snohomishcountywa.gov
Source: snohomishcountywa.gov
Election sources
Source: snohomishcountywa.gov
Source: snohomishcountywa.gov
Source: snohomishcountywa.gov