Truth tester: Spokane Public Schools’ 2-penny increase for bond isn’t simple math. As mailer states marginal increase, here’s what taxpayers will likely see.

Two cents. That’s the amount Spokane Public Schools stresses when publicizing increased costs to taxpayers for a November school ballot.

The district is asking voters to grant the agency authority to issue $200 million in bonds for improvements that would need to be paid off over 20 years. A mailer recently sent out to voters claimed the bond on ballots this November would only “add 2 cents to the existing bond bill for property owners.”

The accuracy of the 2 cents, however, depends on how you count your pennies. Materials and an online calculator on the school district’s informational site about the bond show the more nuanced effect on tax bills, resulting in both increases and decreases.

The 2 cents in the recent mailer would be added to what is called a “mill rate” – the property tax cost per $1,000 of assessed value .

Today, a district homeowner pays about $1.34 per $1,000 of assessed property value on existing school bond debt from voter-approved bonds in 2009 and 2018. That amounts to $536 a year on a $400,000 home, about the median home price in Spokane.

If the new bond is approved, the total school bond bill, including previously approved bonds, will increase 2 cents to $1.36 next year, adding $8 to the existing bond bill. That amounts to $544 for all bond debt.

There would be another 2-cent increase the following year, adding another $8 annually in 2027 to that $400,000 home.

In 2028, that rate would rise to $1.50, according to the district’s own estimates on its website. The owner of a $400,000 home would then pay $600 a year, a $64 annual increase from today’s tax.

That $1.50 rate would hold steady through 2030, according to school officials.

What happens after that depends on volatility of the bond market, future needs of the district and voters.

Unlike a levy, which holds relatively steady throughout its term, a voter-approved bond gives schools the authority to sell bonds. Projections provided by the district estimate an 89-cent rate in 2039, dropping to 36 cents in 2041, and then falling to 7 cents in 2048.

That is in part due to the district’s leeway in determining how much it sells and when, which then dictates how much the bond hits taxpayers’ pocketbooks in a given year.

When the school district states how much taxes will go up in a given year, it’s not purely a calculation, it’s partially a matter of discretion by the agency.

James Hawvermale, levy specialist for the Spokane County Assessor’s Office, was one of two employees tasked with creating an online tax estimator to help taxpayers understand how levies impact their property tax bill.

He won’t even try to predict bonds.

“But when we stopped to take a look at bonds, we decided not to go anywhere near trying to estimate them,” Hawvermale said. “Spokane (Public Schools) … they typically have four or five bonds out there and they refinance their bonds all the time. They have eight or nine different files on their four bonds with about 20 different worksheets going. How do you even track all of that?”

The school system’s chief finance officer Cindy Coleman said the district works closely with bond counsel and financial advisers to track and manage bond debt in a way that produces the highest value possible and a stable tax rate for voters. She said this is why the district’s tax rates have remained so consistent over the last 20 years.

Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Adam Swinyard expects the bond rate to remain relatively flat over those 15 years as past bonds are paid off, he said in an interview.

Spokane County Treasurer Mike Volz noted that while tax rates may be stable, if property values increase, the amount property owners pay also will rise.

That’s different from school operation levies approved by voters. Those tax bills don’t necessarily rise when property values do.

So if the bond passes and a property that’s valued at $400,000 rises in value by 3% for next year’s tax calculations, the district bond bill would rise by another $16.

Swinyard stressed in an interview it’s difficult to pinpoint how much of a property owner’s total bond bill would be the result of the new measure in a given year.

Again, the district doesn’t take on all the debt immediately if voters approve the bond this November. The district adds new debt strategically to get good rates and not overburden taxpayers, Swinyard said.