Levy certified as passed in each county

When it was all said and done, the Grand Coulee Dam School District Proposition No. 1 passed in each of the four counties where it was on the ballot earlier this month.

The levy election was certified by county election officials in the office of each county auditor, who had to transmit their certifications on Tuesday to the state’s secretary of state.

It was a squeaker, with vote tallying and signature checking often showing a winning margin in the 1-2% range and only in one county at times.

But the final tally wasn’t as close. Overall, 1,747 voters cast a yes decision by 54.61% to 45.39%, spread of 9.22% with 954 yes votes to 793 no votes.

It passed in each county: by 19.12 percent in Okanogan County, 2.38% in Grant County, 5.96% in Lincoln County, and 16.88% in Douglas County.

The district’s board of directors on Monday voted to certify the collection of property taxes in 2023. Had county election authorities not been able to certify the levy election on Tuesday, school district directors would have had to rescind their resolution passed Monday night.

The levy will impose about $2 per thousand dollars of assessed value on property in the district. The expiring levies it replaces are taking about $4.20 per thousand.

The educational levy will collect $721,000 in 2023, $636,000 less than three expiring levies are collecting in 2022.

The levy will collect $775,500 in 2024, and $814,000 in 2025 as increases in total district property value are anticipated.

In 2022, the total valuation in the school district, spanning properties in Grant, Okanogan, Douglas, and Lincoln counties is nearly $336 million, an increase of nearly $28 million from 2021, about an 8% gain in taxable value.

In total, levy passage will bring in $4.4 million over three years to the district, including about $700,000 a year from the state that would not have come if the levy election had failed.

Educational levies help pay for educational services ranging from preschool to special education and more that are not funded by the state.