Levy proposed to restore school funding

Local area voters may be faced with deciding on approval of a school levy that would restore $480,000 of property taxes per year to the school district for the next four years, but not raise taxes higher than they were last year.

The Grand Coulee Dam School District board voted Monday night to put the resolution for a “capital levy” on the agenda for discussion at next month’s board meeting April 23.

Local area voters would approve or deny the proposed levy in the upcoming August 7 election.

In 2017, the state Legislature passed Engrossed House Bill (EHB) 2242, which, among other things, affects property taxes. The proposed “capital levy” would help compensate for money the district will lose from the passage of EHB 2242, and put $480,000 per year for four years into the school district’s capital fund.

The state measure was aimed at appeasing the 2012 state Supreme Court “McCleary” case ruling that the state was unconstitutionally underfunding basic public education.

Superintendent Paul Turner said $100,000 from the first year of the levy would be put towards security technology, including improved communication between buildings and cameras on buses.

Turner noted an incident that triggered a security response at the school on Monday illustrated the need. As police nearby were dealing with a subject off school property, outside doors were locked as a precaution. That information, or more urgent information, is not currently available to other district buildings without a series of phone calls.

Other money would be put toward renovating rooms in the former middle school for future use, and other building repair projects.

The levy would leave flexibility for the school to adjust the use of the money as time went on, and accommodates new restrictions on M&O levies.

Property taxes supporting the school district currently take $4.01 per thousand dollars of assessed property value towards a local “operations and maintenance” levy. In spring of 2019, that number drops to $1.50 per thousand per the new law, a difference of $2.51.

This year, as a result of the Legislature’s revamp of school funding, the state takes an additional 81 cents, temporarily placing an extra load on local taxpayers. Turner proposes a $1.70 per thousand “capital levy,” which would put local rates back to the same level they were last year at $4.01.