Voters support Nespelem school levy

Nespelem School District voters approved a four-year $118,000 replacement maintenance and operation levy last Tuesday with a 68.8-percent “yes” vote.

Only 125 voters out of 392 ballots mailed out returned their votes as of Feb. 17 in what is an important funding result for the district.

Of that number, 86 voted “yes” on the levy issue and 39 voted “no.”

The result was a welcome Valentine’s Day present and will enable the district to collect some $1.4 million in state equalization funds.

The replacement levy will start off the first year costing residents $1.15 per thousand dollars of property evaluation and bring in $25,000 to the district. The second year the levy amount will be $1.69 per thousand and provide $28,000 to the district; the third year the levy jumps to $1.87 per thousand and will bring in $31,000. In the final year, the levy moves to $2.05 per thousand and will provide $34,000 to the district.