A balancing act
(a) Tax rate x (b) $1,000 in assessed value = (c) property tax.
Once a school levy measure is approved, (c) will change the least. (a) and (b) are variables that rise or fall, like a teeter-totter — but must always produce (c) that owner’s share of the locked-in district total. Schools do not gain if assessed values increase.
Proposed levy totals and estimated tax rates:
BATTLE GROUND
2011 … $20.5 million … $2.99
2012 … $21.5 million … $2.88
2013 … $22.6 million … $2.78
CAMAS
2011 … $10.4 million … $2.68
2012 … $10.7 million … $2.63
2013 … $11.0 million … $2.57
EVERGREEN
2011 … $40.8 million … $3.49
2012 … $41.5 million … $3.55
LA CENTER (A separate school technology levy asks $250,000 each of the three years.)
2011 … $2.30 million … $2.83
2012 … $2.40 million … $2.90
2013 … $2.55 million … $2.97
RIDGEFIELD
2011 … $3.7 million … $1.90
2012 … $3.8 million … $1.90
2013 … $3.9 million … $1.90
VANCOUVER
2011 … $39.0 million … $3.08
2012 … $41.0 million … $3.23
2013 … $43.0 million … $3.33
WASHOUGAL (A separate transportation levy asks $250,000 each of the four years.)
2011 … $5.09 million … $2.58
2012 … $5.09 million … $2.58
2013 … $5.09 million … $2.58
2014 … $5.09 million … $2.58
It’s long been a sore point, hence a major pending school lawsuit against the state and, in 2009, passage of House Bill 2261, the as-yet-unfunded effort to force Washington to meet its constitutional duty to fully support K-12 education.
The rest? Also things largely taken for granted: Extracurricular activities such as sports, performing arts and elective courses, after-school activity buses, library and media resources, class supplies, and so forth.
3. In this lousy economy, surely they won’t ask us to pay more?
Yes and no. The Evergreen and Vancouver districts will ask for millions more in total levy dollars. But wait: Each has data that show median home values have slumped enough that many owners would pay less in taxes in 2011-12, officials say. Of course, not every home tracks evenly.