Cheney Public Schools will have two levies on November ballots

A pair of property tax levies are headed to November ballots in Cheney Public Schools.

The board unanimously approved sending two proposals for voter scrutiny in November, both three-year renewals of existing levies to pay for educational programs and operations as well as building and technology. The two will be separate ballot items, each requiring a simple majority to pass.

If passed by voters, the two taxes would bring a property owner’s tax bill to schools to an estimated rate of $3.90 per $1,000 in assessed property value. This rate includes taxes from both proposed levies and a bond voters approved in 2024. Property owners are currently paying school taxes at a rate of $3.93, said Cheney Superintendent Ben Ferney.

Educational programs and operations levy

The first of the two, an educational programs and operations levy, would raise $57 million over its three-year life, beginning in 2027. It would collect from property taxes $18.5 million in its first year, $19 million in its second and finally $19.6 million.

The operations levy pays for what the state doesn’t cover under its definition of “basic education.” Last year, the levy constituted 16.5% of the district’s operating revenue.

“Our educational programs and operations levy is really that main gap from what the state basic ed funds and what we serve,” Ferney said. “So things like school safety, athletics, extracurricular activities, art, music, special education.”

If passed by voters, the operations levy would tax property owners at an estimated rate of $2.10 per $1,000 in assessed value each of its three years.

Capital levy

Capital levies collect property taxes to pay for infrastructure and technology in the district, including costs around heating and cooling, plumbing, security systems and technology for students.

The proposed capital levy is much smaller than its sibling ballot item; it would raise $4.1 million over three years if approved by voters in November. In 2027, the levy would collect $880,000 in its first year at an estimated rate of 10 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value. In following years, it would collect $1.35 million at an estimated rate of 15 cents per $1,000, then $1.9 million at a 20-cent mill rate.

Most of the district’s bond passed in 2024 went to the new Skyway Elementary in Airway Heights but also covered some other projects in the district. Even so, there still are infrastructure needs in future years that the capital levy will address, Ferney said.

“We also recently passed a bond which was super supportive of building a building, and within that bond, we’re able to do some larger infrastructure items,” he said. “That said, there’s always infrastructure that needs to be done when you’re talking about buildings and running buildings, so there’s always a component of capital levy that’s needed to maintain buildings.”