The Tahoma School District is proposing three levies for the Feb. 13, 2018 ballot.
The levies include a bus levy and two replacement levies.
According to a press release from the Tahoma School District, the board voted to authorize placing a two-year levy on the ballot to purchase buses. This will allow the district to have more busses and will also allow them to “retire” old bus.
The bus levy will cost about $2 million, the release stated. This would pay for around 15 busses and would be collected in the 2019 and 2020 tax years.
The release said this would cost home owners 14 cents per $1,000 in 2019 and 13 cents per $1,000 in 2020.
“This funding is essential to the operation of the school district,” Superintendent Rob Morrow said in the release. “If folks like the levels of learning, service and programs that their students are receiving now, passing these measures is the way to maintain that.”
The two replacement levies are for technology and educational programs, and operations that the school board had previously approved.
These levies would be collected over a four-year period, the release said, beginning in 2019. The levies would replace the existing levies, EP&O levy and technology levy, at a lower tax rate and would provide funds for equipment, services and staff positions that do not receive state funding.
In total, these levies will offer:
• Competitive teacher salaries & benefits
• Non-teaching positions
• Special education
• Safety and security
• Extracurricular activities
• Transportation
• Substitute teachers
A PowerPoint by the Tahoma School District explained this levy will provide more than 75 percent of school nurse’s salaries and benefits with $391,000 provided by the levy and $108,000 provided by the state.
This will also help pay security staff according to the PowerPoint with the levy providing $183,000 and the state providing $144,000.
The Tahoma School District press release also said this levy pays for different things than the construction bond measure that was approved in 2013, which pays for only specific capital projects, such as the new Tahoma High School and the new Lake Wilderness Elementary School. The release went onto say, “By law, bond funds cannot be used for ongoing expenses, such as employee salaries or extracurricular programs.”
The educational programs and operations levy is estimated to cost property owners a maximum of $1.50 per $1,000, which is half of what is currently being collected the release said.
“The levy would pay for employees, supplies, transportation staffing and program costs not funded by the state, including special education,” said the release.
The technology levy is estimated to cost 39 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for the first year and then raise to $2.75 million each year so the district would be able to afford computers, communications network equipment, software and pay for technology support staff.
In total between all three levies, the release said it is estimated to cost $2.03 per $1,000 in 2019, compared to $3.46 this current year.
For instance, a home valued at $400,000 would pay $812 per year for the three levies in comparison to $1,384.
“The school board decided to seek levy approval because, even with changes in how Washington state funds schools, there is still a gap between state funding and what Tahoma needs in order to provide students with a well-rounded education that meets district standards,” according to the release.
Overall, the three levies would help Tahoma maintain its current programs and staffing, said the release.
