Island voters have rejected the Vashon Park District’s bid to raise its levy rate from 41 cents to 52 cents, according to current election results provided by King County.

Initial results showed island voters cast 3,370 ballots before the April 23 deadline, with 37% of registered voters participating. The measure, Proposition 1, received more than 52% of the vote in favor of the increase, but it needed 60% approval to pass.

On the phone Wednesday morning, Executive Director Elaine Ott-Rocheford said the atmosphere at the district was somber, adding that she could not represent the will of the board so soon after the vote.

“The park district belongs to the community, and if the community, through their vote, has chosen to not support the levy request, then it is our responsibility to honor that and regroup and come up with a new plan,” she said. “We welcome community input and would hope that those opposed would participate in discussions at future board meetings because that would be helpful in deciding our next steps.”

The district is expected to come back to the community with another levy request in November’s general election.

At its regularly scheduled board meeting Tuesday night, commissioners anxiously awaited for the county to report the election results as they discussed items on the agenda. Executive Director Elaine Ott-Rocheford said if the measure would fail, one strategy the district could employ would be to play it as safe as possible in any future election, asking voters in November to renew the current 41 cent levy.

She attributed one possible reason for a rejection of the latest measure to the island’s growing aversion to property tax increases. But in November, side by side with an expected proposal for the creation of a hospital district, she said, voters may feel more inclined to support the parks.

“Our message is, your taxes aren’t going up. Their message is, your taxes are going up,” she said.

Ott-Rocheford added that a second strategy the district could consider going forward would be to stretch its existing reserves and incoming levy revenue through 2020, using its remaining resources sparingly.

In 2015, islanders narrowly approved a four-year, 50-cent levy for the district, which had eroded to 41 cents since then due to the increase of assessed property values on Vashon. Under the proposed levy rate of 52 cents, the park district would have seen its tax revenue increase from $1.3 million to $1.8 million.The levy provides the bulk of the district’s operating funds.

Commissioners hinged many of the district’s financial and maintenance goals on the passage of the measure, but following the defeat of the measure, chair Bob McMahon said it was now up to them to figure out what will come next.

“To the supporters, we thank them very much and would welcome any comments that they have in helping us get the thing passed the next time around,” he said.