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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Central Valley board sees more cuts, revises school levy

Members think governor’s trim of equalization funds not over

The Central Valley School District isn’t taking any chances after Gov. Chris Gregoire’s recent 3.4 percent cut of levy equalization money received by school districts.

On Monday the school board tossed out the previous resolution it passed to put a replacement maintenance and operations levy on the February 2009 ballot and created a new one that assumes all the levy equalization money will go away.

Superintendent Ben Small said he believes the cut in the middle of the budget year, which is already in effect, is only a sign of things to come. “It signaled the opening of the door,” he said. “Anything that is not basic education is up for cuts.”

Levy equalization money is given to property-poor school districts, mostly in Eastern Washington, who have assessed home values below the state average. In this budget year the district received $17 million in levy money and about $4.2 million in levy equalization money. “It’s an equity issue,” Small said. “It’s not considered part of basic education. It can be cut.”

The fact that the cut is mostly impacting Eastern Washington school districts had a couple of board members seeing red. “The Puget Sound districts will be untouched by this budget cut,” said board member Tom Dingus.

“I am just so furious with this,” said board member Debbie Long, who doesn’t think the money will come back once it goes away.

“I don’t think we’re going to get it. That will hurt our children. We have to assume the worst.”

Board member Anne Long said she has heard some argue that districts shouldn’t try to replace the lost money because doing that would make it politically easier for the state to take it away permanently.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” she said. “We have to go out for the full amount.”

Levy money pays for things the state doesn’t pay for, like technology and extracurricular activities, as well as programs like special education and student transportation not fully funded by the state.

“Four million dollars is a substantial chunk of money,” said board president Cindy McMullen. “It is threaded through everything we do in the district. We’re asking for what we need to take care of our kids’ education.”

The new levy that will appear on the ballot calls for a flat rate of $3.27 per $1,000 in assessed home value for all three years. That is up from the first proposal that would have set rates of $2.69 per thousand in 2010, $2.72 per thousand in 2011 and $2.75 per thousand in 2012.

The new amount is still lower than the $3.50 per thousand that voters approved for 2009 when the last levy was passed.

If board members are wrong and the levy equalization money is restored, the district will have a tax rollback and collect less than what voters authorize.

In other business, McMullen was elected president of the board in a unanimous vote. The board didn’t stand on ceremony, however. McMullen simply switched seats with outgoing president Dingus and took over the meeting. “Congratulations,” said Dingus. “Have fun.”

Anne Long was elected vice president of the board and Debbie Long was elected legislative representative.

Nina Culver can be reached at 927-2158 or via e-mail at ninac@spokesman.com.