School districts put levies before voters

School districts around the county will turn to voters on Feb. 14 to help fund various school programs and amenities.

In some of the county’s smaller cities, the Camas School District, Washougal School District, Woodland Public Schools and Hockinson School District will all hold special elections for levies.

Levy dollars are typically used to make up the difference between state funding and providing various educational services.

Camas

“Without our local levies, we would not be able to meet needs,” Camas Superintendent Jeff Snell said.

In Camas, there are two replacement levies up for vote: a maintenance and operations levy and a technology levy. In Camas, levy money makes up approximately 20 percent of the district’s budget.

The maintenance levy would collect $16.1 million, $16.6 million, $17.1 million and $17.6 million over the next four years, while the technology levy would bring in $1.70, $1.75 million, $1.80 million and $1.85 million to Camas during that same time frame.

The district estimates residents would pay 6 cents more a year if the two replacement levies pass, with the district’s projected rate going up to $6.31 per $1,000 of assessed home value for 2018-2020. The current rate is $6.25 per $1,000 of assessed home value. In the levies’ fourth year, the district estimates the rate will go down to $5.83 per $1,000 due to paying off bond debt.

The district doesn’t control the actual rate, though.

The extra money will be used to deal with enrollment growth through staff for smaller class sizes, textbooks, curriculum materials, health room staff, AP, Hi-Cap and accelerated programs, special education staff and technology support staff. It will also be used for extracurricular programs and grounds, maintenance and utilities.

In 2016, 63.13 percent voted in favor of a $120 million bond, with that money going to new schools and renovations and security upgrades at existing schools.

“Bonds are building and levies are for learning,” Snell said. “It’s not that bonds aren’t for learning, too. Bonds provide infrastructure for learning. Levies are more about stuff that every day engages with kids.”

Washougal

In Washougal, the district is asking voters to approve a three-year maintenance and operations levy, as well as a three-year technology levy.

The maintenance and operations levy would collect $7.6 million in 2018, $7.8 million in 2019 and a little less than $8 million in 2020. The technology levy would bring in $775,000 in 2018, $800,000 in 2019 and $820,000 in 2020.

The estimated rate of the maintenance and operations levy, as given by the district, would be $2.91 per $1,000 of assessed value for all three years, while the technology levy has a projected rate of 30 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for 2018-2020.

The district’s most recent rates for the maintenance levy are $2.92 for 2016 and $2.74 for 2017. The technology levy rate was 35 cents in 2016 and is 34 cents in 2017.

Larry Mayfield, business services director in the district, said they started working on the levies before the 2017 rates were known, as the Clark County Assessor’s Office sets those based on the value of all property in the district.

“We levy a dollar amount we’re asking for and we’re required to estimate the tax rate,” Mayfield said.

In Washougal, levy dollars make up nearly 20 percent of the budget. The maintenance and operations levy will go toward athletics, health and safety, instructional support, student learning and staffing. The technology levy will be used for the district’s 1:1 program, which aims to give each student a personal device, such as iPads or Chromebooks, as well as keep the district’s infrastructure up to date.

Woodland

Woodland Public Schools is asking residents to replace its maintenance and operations levy. The replacement levy would bring in $4.5 million in 2018, $4.8 million in 2019 and $5 million in 2020. The district’s projected tax rates for those years are $2.70 per $1,000 of assessed home value for 2018 and 2019 and $2.69 per $1,000 in 2020. The 2016 rate was $2.62 per $1,000.

Levy dollars make up 16.7 percent of Woodland’s budget.

Should the levy pass, the money will be used for enhanced career and technical programs which prepare students for the workforce, staffing to keep class sizes low, teaching supplies and materials, technology equipment and support, textbooks, transportation, athletics and extracurricular programs.

Hockinson

Things are a little different in the Hockinson School District, where officials are putting a capital projects levy up for vote.

The levy asks for $1.5 million split over six years, so $250,000 each year. The district’s project levy rates are 19 cents per $1,000 of assessed home value for 2018, 18 cents per $1,000 for 2019 and 2020, 17 cents per $1,000 for 2021 and 2022 and 16 cents per $1,000 for 2023.

The district is asking for money for residents to make improvements to Hockinson High School’s main athletic field, including purchasing and installing synthetic turf and resurfacing the track.

“We have an area of our community that has really wanted the district to put synthetic turf in the main field at the high school,” Superintendent Sandra Yager said. “The school district didn’t have the money to do this project, so we’re asking the voice of our community if this is something they want to do or not.”

Yager said the synthetic turf would allow the district to get more use out of the field, possibly allowing for team practices, community events, marching band practice and physical education class. In levy literature sent out by the district, it says many events scheduled for the field have to be moved due to weather and condition of the field.

“You have to nurture and give that grass time to grow, so you need to keep people off of it,” Yager said.

It’s the third year in a row Hockinson is turning to an election for help in the district, after voters approved a $39.9 million bond in 2015 and a three-year $13.9 million replacement maintenance and operations levy in 2016.