Tax levy’s failure puzzles organizers

Spokane voters have a reputation for supporting children, but Tuesday they made a different statement.

“The message against new taxes was loud and clear, no matter what it is,” said Ben Stuckart, spokesman for the Children’s Investment Fund initiative.

Proposition 1, a proposed six-year property tax levy, failed resoundingly, with 65 percent of voters saying no. It would have raised about $5 million annually to support early childhood learning, abuse and neglect prevention and treatment programs, mentoring programs, and before- and after-school activities; and cost Spokane property owners about 35 cents per $1,000 assessed value.

Others speculate that voters may have been confused over the lack of a Spokane school board endorsement, doubted that organizers would be able to deliver on their promise to reduce dropout rates by 20 percent, and were skeptical of how, specifically, the money would be spent.

“If there was any confusion that this was a school levy, a confused voter always votes no,” Stuckart said. “So it could be we didn’t make that distinction clear enough.”

The campaign steering committee members “were frustrated,” Stuckart said. “I don’t think anyone anticipated losing that big.”

Within two weeks, the committee will meet to decide “what the next step is,” said Stuckart, who doesn’t expect they will go back to voters anytime soon.

In April, Spokane voters will be asked to pay for a jail, so that’s not a good time, he added. “But at some point, we are going to have to invest in prevention because costs are astronomically higher at the end point.”

The idea for the levy stemmed from a concern among community leaders, educators and child advocates about Spokane Public Schools’ approximately 29 percent dropout rate.

Students who fail to graduate are more likely to end up in jail, add to the strain on social services and be unemployed, studies show.

During the campaign, child advocates repeatedly said schools cannot do it alone. Giving money to agencies that help children when they’re not in school, such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters and the Boys & Girls Club, can help kids be more successful.

Dan Christensen, CEO of Big Brothers, Big Sisters, said, “It’s frustrating (that the initiative failed), but we don’t have the privilege of banking on something like that going through.”

The new U.S. Census data will soon reveal “there are more kids at risk than there were in the past,” Christensen said. What Tuesday’s loss at the polls means is “fewer kids we can help.”

It’s interesting that so much of the rationale among voters has been a concern about passing on current debt to their grandchildren, he added. “Well, rather than investing in those kids now, they’ve just passed on that social-service debt.”

Stuckart said, “At least the campaign made the dropout rate a community conversation.”