11/20/2009 12:08:00 PM School levies expected to appear on February ballot
By Justin Burnett Examiner Staff Writer
Voters in the Coupeville School District can expect to see two school levy requests on the February ballot.
Following a special Coupeville School Board meeting Nov. 9, school officials are working on draft resolutions for the proposed levies, and the board is expected to approve the levy requests at its Nov. 16 meeting.
One is a renewal of the district's four-year maintenance and operation levy, which is set to expire in 2010. The levy, which is about 20 percent of the district budget, pays for a variety of school operations from transportation to sports and other activities.
The current property-tax levy, which was approved by voters in 2006, will have brought in a total of about $8.03 million when it expires. Collection in 2010 has not yet occurred but the amount to be collected is certain.
Over four years, the levy is expected to bring in about $9.21 million. The levy rate is based on estimated property values and fluctuates from year to year, and is expected to be about $1.08 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2011, rising to $1.14 per $1,000 in value in 2014.
The second levy is a first for the Coupeville School District: A technology levy that would bring in about $1.2 million over four years. The tax rate is expected to be about 14 cents per $1,000 in assessed value.
The technology levy would be conditional upon renewal of the maintenance and operations levy.
Should both measured be approved, property owners within district boundaries can expect to pay about $1.23 per $1,000 of assessed value in the first year. Combined with property taxes already being collected by the district to pay off the bonds used for the new high school, property owners would pay about $2.26 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2011.
Coupeville Schools Superintendent Patty Page told the school board that while technology is a part of everyday life, Washington state provides no funding for computers and other equipment that students need to be prepared to enter the workforce. Of the 500 computers owned by the district, 91 percent are so old that they fail state efficiency standards, she said.
"We can't do updates, because when we do updates on the computers we make them crash," she said. "Then they are not usable anymore."
Over four years, about $560,000 from the technology levy would go toward replacing old computers, which cost about $1,200 each. The remaining $640,000 would pay for replacing the elementary school's aging phone system and adding new technology in classrooms, such as digital projectors and laptops for teachers.
According to Page, the levy request is modest and would not provide the district with "all the new bells and whistles."
"It's asking for some basic things and make us competitive with other school districts," Page said.
During their discussion, board members were unanimous in their support for both levies but did debate whether their duration should be two years or four years.
Page and longtime board member Kathleen Anderson said it would probably be better to run two-year levies because it would provide the district more flexibility in a shifting economic climate.
"I think looking ahead at four years is just too big a risk at this point," Anderson said.
As a result of the recession, state funding has been reduced. Page and Anderson said there is no way to know when the state budget situation will improve, and locking the district in for four years could result in missed funding opportunities.
But the majority of board members did not see it that way.
"The four-year levy is riskier, Kathy; I agree with you," President Don Sherman said. "But it's also more secure."
Pursuing four-year levies would provide the district with stable funding during uncertain economic times, which outweighs the risk of hoping that more funding will be available after two-year levies expire.
