Final count shows heavy support for school levy

After Thursday’s ballot tabulations, the favorable vote for Grand Coulee Dam School District’s special levy remained at more than 65 percent.

The final count in the mail-in-ballot election that ended Tuesday, Feb. 10, shows 734 yes votes and 381 no votes.

“A levy election is in many ways a referendum on the quality of the programs being offered in our community schools and a statement of the commitment of our community to support — through the election process — continuation of our efforts to improve our schools and programs,” Superintendent Dennis Carlson said late last week. “This result reflects the confidence our community has in the great job our school staff is doing in preparing our students to meet the challenges of our current and future world.”

Voters had just agreed to replace the district’s current four-year levy with another four-year levy with the highest “yes” vote in a number of years.

“We owe a great deal of thanks to the levy committee, especially Karen Depew, Rich Black, Aaron Derr, Joe Tynan and everyone who supported the campaign through cash donations, letters to the editor, yard signs and the wearing of the “Support Strong Schools” buttons,” Carlson said. “They were the spark that ignited the fire and kept the campaign going and put in untold hours in support of our kids.”

The new levy, running 2016-2019, will provide $1.13 million annually for support of school programs not fully funded by the state. In addition, just for passing the levy, the school district will receive an additional $535,000 from the state.

Patrons may have been impressed with the fact that most property owners will pay a bit less in taxes with the new levy.

Owners of a $100,000 house would pay $59 less in taxes under the new levy.

The new four-year levy asks $3.95 per thousand of assessed valuation compared to $4.54 in the current levy.

“I am truly grateful for the caring and supportive staff who work with our students every day and have earned the trust of our patrons as evidenced by the levy passage,” Carlson added.

The vote by county

(as of Thursday)

County Yes No

Grant 386 211

Okanogan 235 102

Lincoln 38 35

Douglas 75 33