Voters in seven Clark County school districts will cast ballots Feb. 11 on levies and bonds.
Ballots will be mailed today. The last day to submit new voter registrations and updates online or by mail is 4 p.m. Feb. 3. Voters may still register and update existing registrations after Feb. 3 but must do so in person by 8 p.m. Feb. 11, according to a news release from Clark County Elections.
Levies require a simple majority to pass and are one to six years in length. Bonds are repaid with property taxes over as many as 40 years and must be approved by a 60 percent vote.
Districts are seeking two kinds of levies. Educational programs and operations levies fund teachers, support staff, supplies and materials, or services that the state only partially funds. Technology, safety and capital levies pay for renovations along with technology and safety enhancements.
Vancouver Public Schools
Vancouver’s board decided in November to put a six-year replacement levy for technology, safety and capital projects on the ballot.
The levy would go into effect in January 2026 to replace the current technology capital levy, which expires at the end of 2025.
Technology levy rates range from 29 to 38 cents with a total collection of about $83 million over six years.
The expected levy rates increase each year, except from 2028 to 2031. Property owners paid 28 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2024 for the existing technology levy and $3.36 overall for Vancouver schools.
The district’s overall tax rates per $1,000 of assessed property value are expected to decrease after 2026, when the owner of a $500,000 home would pay $1,770:
- 2026: $3.54 (29 cents for the capital levy, $1.14 for existing bonds, $2.11 for the operations levy)
- 2027: $3.43 (36 cents for the capital levy, 94 cents for existing bonds, $2.13 for the operations levy)
- 2028-2031: $3.26 (38 cents for the capital levy, 75 cents for the existing bonds, $2.13 for the operations levy)
Evergreen Public Schools
Evergreen’s board voted in November to place two four-year levies — one for operations and the other for technology — on the ballot to replace existing levies that expire at the end of 2025.
The operational levy would replace a three-year levy approved by voters in 2022 and raise a total of about $288.9 million over four years. Taxpayers are expected to pay a range from $2.02 to $2.35 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The technology levy, which would raise a total of about $50.5 million over four years, replaces a six-year levy approved by voters in 2019. The new levy rates range from 36 cents to 40 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
With the two levies and Evergreen’s 2018 bond, which paid for the replacement of several schools and construction of a new district headquarters, homeowners are expected to pay an estimated $4.03 per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2026, about $2,015 per year for a $500,000 house. Estimated total rates per $1,000 assessed property value for the next four years are:
- 2026: $4.03 ($2.75 levies, $1.28 bond)
- 2027: $3.85 ($2.59 levies, $1.26 bond)
- 2028: $3.71 ($2.47 levies, $1.24 bond)
- 2029: $3.59 ($2.38 levies, $1.21 bond)
Homeowners in 2024 paid $3.57 per $1,000 of assessed property value — $1.59 for the existing operations levy, 39 cents for the existing tech levy and $1.59 for the 2018 bond measure. That’s about $1,785 for a $500,000 house.
The last time Evergreen sought a replacement levy, it took two tries to pass.
Battle Ground Public Schools
Battle Ground’s board placed an educational programs and operations replacement levy on the ballot.
The four-year levy would replace the existing operations levy, which ends in 2025. The new levy would begin collections in 2026 and raise about $166.3 million over four years with an estimated tax rate of $1.95 per $1,000 of assessed property value each year.
Homeowners in 2024 paid $1.65 per $1,000 of assessed property value for the existing operations levy, which voters approved in 2022. In 2025, they will pay $1.68 per $1,000 of assessed property value for that operations levy, as well as an additional 46 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value for a three-year technology capital levy approved by voters in February 2024.
If the replacement levy is approved, the owner of a $500,000 home would pay an estimated $1,205 in annual property taxes, including the existing capital levy.
Ridgefield School District
Ridgefield’s school board voted unanimously in December to place two three-year levies on the ballot after six consecutive failed bond attempts since 2019.
The replacement operations levy would collect a total of $44 million from 2026 to 2028, with an estimated tax rate of $1.75 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The capital projects and technology levy would collect $21.2 million over the same period. The projected capital levy rate would be 84 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
If approved, the levies would go into effect in January 2026 for a combined tax rate of $2.58 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of a $500,000 house would pay an estimated $1,290 in property taxes that year. The cost includes the existing 2012 and 2017 existing bonds.
This year, the property tax rate for Ridgefield schools was $2.53, which includes the current operations levy and existing bonds, and owners of a $500,000 home paid $1,265.
Hockinson School District
Hockinson’s board has a 21-year, $87 million bond on the ballot.
The district’s current bond will decrease in 2026 to 69 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. If the new bond is approved, it would add $1.34 for a total of $2.03 per $1,000 of assessed property value, according to the district’s website. The owner of a $500,000 home would pay $1,015 per year.
In the past 20 years, only two Hockinson School District bonds have passed. A 2003 bond funded construction of Hockinson High School. Before then, only the elementary and middle schools existed, and ninth-graders moved on to high schools outside of the district. More recently, a 2015 bond allowed the district to build a new Hockinson Middle School.
La Center School District
La Center’s board placed a three-year educational programs and operations levy on the ballot to replace the previous approved levy that expires at the end of 2025. Collections would start in 2026 if approved.
The tax rate would remain at $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value for all three years, or $750 a year for the owner of a $500,000 home. Over the three years, the district will collect about $12 million.
Mount Pleasant School District
Mount Pleasant’s board placed a three-year maintenance and operation levy of $195,000 per year of collection on the ballot.
The projected tax rates range from $1.79 to $2.13 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
