Poll shows lack of support for school levies

Upcoming school levies in the Grand Coulee Dam School District don't have a lot of support among those who took a Star poll.

The online survey, found in last week's issue of The Star and shared online, received 59 responses, with 15 (25%) saying they support the Educational Programs & Operations Levy, 39 (66%) saying they don't, and five (9%) saying they aren't sure. 

Those who support or do not support that levy tended to feel the same about the Capital Levy for Safety, Technology and Facilities Improvement, but with some difference, with 13 (22%) saying they support it, 40 (68%) saying they don't, and six (10%) saying they aren't sure. 

Those who support the levies expressed a duty toward supporting the education of children, while those opposed expressed feeling financially strained or skeptical about how the money might get spent.

"On a property valued at $250,000," one respondent writes, "the school levy taxes alone would be $1050!!! That is an insane amount of money considering all of the other state and local taxes we have to pay, not to mention rising gas prices and inflation on almost everything else and WA state's huge sales tax. Due to rising property valuations in our area, most properties in our area will also have new, much higher, assessments also making our property taxes almost unaffordable for the average worker. I have worked in school districts for many years, and it always seems like the top dogs are the only ones who get substantial raises, while the parapros might get a measly $400 a year raise which just gets swallowed up by rising health insurance costs. Please vote 'NO.'"

"Our community's youth deserve to be supported," a person who supports the levies writes, "and obviously the state and feds [don't] care about our kids so it's up to us to care about their education and fund the schools."

That commenter may be missing the fact in the example, the owner is already paying $975. The proposed jump to $1050 would increase the tax burden by $75 a year.

Other comments include: 

"This school district has shown to be fiscally irresponsible on multiple occasions, firstly, not building a school large enough for the number of students they had at the time. Giving them even more funds to disperse improperly is just feeding an already broken system."

"Good schools are key to the future of our region. All the best jobs in our area are either professional, technical or trades and all of them require a good educational foundation."

"My wife and I can no longer pay for our medications, this tax will not help. God bless."

"My rent has gone up 40% in the last year. My landlady will pass the cost on to me.Thank you."

"I will raise the rent on my properties just like always."

"I guess I can unretire and go back to work."

"People on a fixed income are just getting by. We cannot afford these levies. Thanks."

"It is the responsibility of all of us to support public education. Public education isn't 'free' it is free for students because it is supported by responsible taxpayers who value the future."

"Like any government organization there is way [too] much wasted. I believe that we are living in times where we need to make hard decisions. We don't need lots of extra stuff or everything we want. Our country is out of control and I think we are in serious trouble."

"Our kids are our future and we need to support their education while also paying close attention to what the school is doing with the funds (and not doing)."

Out of the 59 total respondents, all said they plan to vote in February. Fifty said they pay property taxes; nine don't. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 31 (62%) of those who pay taxes are against the levies. Perhaps surprisingly, eight (88.89%) of the nine who don't pay taxes are against the levies.

Most responders, 40, have one kind of relative or another as a student at Lake Roosevelt.

Out of the 59 responding, 26 said they have children who attend Lake Roosevelt, six have grandchildren who do, and eight said they have other relatives attending. Nineteen responders did not have any relatives attending in the district.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, those without relatives in the district were 12-5 against both levies, with two unsure. But surprisingly, those who do have kids, grandkids, or other relatives in the district are 27-10 against the educational levy, with three unsure, and 28-8 against the capital levy, with four unsure.

Even just looking at those with kids in the district, respondents were 15-9 against the educational levy with two unsure, and 16-7 against the capital levy with three unsure. 

Superintendent Paul Turner spoke to The Star about what happens if the levies don't pass.

Turner said that not passing the Educational Programs & Operations Levy would lead to cuts related to athletics, preschool, drivers education, and more.

"If we don't want those things, well, okay," he said, "but I assume we all want those things." 

He also explained that it could lead to reduced staff and thus an increase in class sizes, the negative effects of which "are pretty self explanatory," citing the example of a teacher trying to teach a class of 17 elementary aged kids how to read compared to a class of 30.

"We need to pass [the educational levy]," he said, but failure to pass the capital levy would simply mean that "we can't keep fixing things."

That levy in the past has paid for HVAC, roofing, electrical and other work at the gym, among other things. 

The two levies combined would bring in an estimated combined total of $1.4 million and $1.7 million annually from 2023 through 2026.

Turner said the 2022 collection is expected to be close to $1.3 million, including $807,000 in educational levies, and $518,000 from the capital levy.

Grant County Treasurer Darryl Pheasant explained that increased home valuations do not mean taxes go up at the same rate as the valuations, and that it can take less than a levy's proposed rate to collect the money sought from the levy.

"The concept of values is not an indication of taxes going up by that amount," he told The Star over the phone Tuesday. "If the levy rates decrease enough, they offset the increase [in property valuations], and come up with practically the same number as last year."

In other words, a hypothetical levy took $2.50 per thousand dollars in assessed property value to reach a collection goal of $500,000. If property values then go up, the levy may only need $2 per thousand to reach its collection goal. 

The increase from the current levies collecting roughly $1.3 million in 2022 to the proposed levies' $1.4 million in 2023, would however, mean a 7.7% increase to the school-levy portion of property taxes.