School Districts Seek Levy Renewals Adequate Voter Turnout A Worry For Education Officials

A dozen Spokane County school districts will ask voters Tuesday to approve nearly $250 million worth of replacement levies.

School officials stress that the measures do not create new taxes, but replace levies set to expire.

“It’s always hard to get people to understand that this isn’t new money, it’s replacing the money you are already paying for,” said Gary Livingston, superintendent of Spokane School District 81, the state’s second-largest district.

Spokane voters will be asked to approve a three-year, $122.6 million levy for District 81.

Under the proposed levy rate, property owners will continue paying $3.99 per $1,000 of assessed value through 2001, or $399 a year for a $100,000 home. The rate is projected to dip to $3.96 per $1,000 in 2002 and to $3.86 in 2003.

However, a higher tax rate will be listed on Tuesday’s ballot - $4.35, $4.31 and $4.21 per $1,000. It is unlikely homeowners will pay the higher rate, Livingston said. School officials are confident the state will continue to pay 12 percent of the district’s levy dollars.

Under levy equalization, the state contributes money to districts whose property values are less than the state average.

But as an “insurance policy,” the district is asking voters to approve the higher rate, which will be rolled back when the state money comes through, Livingston said.

Spokane voters last approved a two-year, $73.7 million levy in February 1998 with an 81 percent approval rate.

For District 81, and several other districts, the levy dollars make up 16 percent of their operating budget and help pay for things such as special education, gifted programs, technology, counseling, textbooks and extracurricular activities such as band, choir and sports.

“It supplements basic education,” Livingston said. “This is really critical.”

Voters have supported District 81 and other districts in past levy elections, but Livingston’s biggest concern is whether enough voters will go to the polls Tuesday.

Nearly 26,000 votes will be needed to validate District 81’s election, and there must be at least 60 percent “yes” votes for the measure to pass.

Tuesday’s levy elections fall on the heels of the Feb. 29 presidential primary. All of the Spokane-area school districts having elections opted against pairing their elections with the primary.

Spokane County Elections Supervisor Tom Wilbur sent a letter to the districts last summer asking them to avoid the primary election, which already had three ballots - Democrat, Republican and unaffiliated.

“It would have greatly increased the complexity of the administration of the election,” Wilbur said.

To avoid presidential primaries in the future, many districts have opted for three-year levies, which will take them off the four-year primary cycle. A recent change in state law no longer limits school districts to just two-year levies; they now can run up to four years.

The other district levy and bond measures Tuesday include:

Great Northern: A two-year, $220,000 maintenance and operations levy. The tax rate would be $3.14 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2001 and $3.05 the next year.

Nine Mile Falls: A two-year, $2.98 million maintenance and operations levy. The tax rate would be $3.63 per $1,000 of assessed value the first year and $3.64 the next.

Medical Lake: A three-year, $1.17 million maintenance and operations levy. The tax rate would be $1.71 per $1,000 of assessed value each year.

Mead: A three-year, $27.72 million maintenance and operations levy. The tax rate would be $3.89 per $1,000 of assessed value each year.

Central Valley: A three-year, $40.77 million maintenance and operations levy. The tax rate would be $3.95 per $1,000 of assessed value each year.

Freeman: A three-year, $2.77 million maintenance and operations levy. The tax rate would be $4.10 per $1,000 of assessed value each year.

Cheney: A three-year, $13.2 million maintenance and operations levy. The tax rate would be $3.96 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2001, $3.92 in 2002, and $3.97 in 2003.

The district also is seeking approval of a $13.9 million bond to modernize four elementary schools. The bond would be paid back over 15 years and would add about 83 cents per $1,000 to the tax rate.

East Valley: A three-year, $16.56 million maintenance and operations levy. The tax rate would be $3.90 per $1,000 of assessed value each year.

Liberty: A three-year, $2.67 million maintenance and operations levy. The tax rate would be $3.88 per $1,000 of assessed value each year.

West Valley: A three-year, $15.2 million maintenance and operations levy. The levy rate would be $4.65 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The district also is seeking approval of a three-year $1.5 million technology levy, which would renew a current technology levy. The tax rate would be an average of 46 cents per $1,000.

Deer Park: A two-year, $2.08 million maintenance and operations levy. The tax rate would be $2.68 per $1,000 of assessed value the first year and $2.60 the next.