Election

Charter school initiative qualifies for November ballot

Written by kie | The Bellingham Herald | July 25, 2012

For the fourth time in 16 years, Washington state voters will decide whether to allow charter schools.

Initiative 1240 has qualified for the November ballot, the Washington Secretary of State announced Wednesday, July 25.

Sponsors submitted more than 357,000 signatures in a 21-day signature gathering drive, which was financed by powerful backers that included Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

Click here to read more about this and five other measures going before state voters in November.

The Washington Education Association opposes the measure. Read about its stance here.

Supporters include Stand for Children and the League of Education Voters.

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Whatcom County voters approving all school levies

Written by kie | The Bellingham Herald | February 14, 2012

Click here to get a quick overview of the count released on election night Tuesday, Feb. 14.

The $3 million bond request from Blaine School District will be decided in the coming days.

The next count of ballots will be released Wednesday afternoon.

Click here for the ballot totals so far.

And read the stories we wrote for the school measures, and a Ferndale sales tax increase, here.

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Ballots for schools, sales tax increase due Tuesday, Feb. 14

Written by kie | The Bellingham Herald | February 9, 2012

Voters in all seven school districts in Whatcom County, as well as the city of Ferndale, have until Tuesday, Feb. 14, to return ballots for the special election for school funding and a sales tax increase.

Ballots must be postmarked or received by Tuesday to be counted.

The school districts are asking voters to approve different types of levies — replacement measures for technology as well as maintenance and operations, and new requests to pay for technology and small renovation projects.

Blaine schools are asking for a yes vote on a $3 million bond as well, with $2.4 million of that to remodel Blaine High School’s science building.

In Ferndale, voters also are being asked to increase the city’s sales tax by two-tenths of 1 percent to raise money for road repairs.

The levies and sales tax need a simple majority of more than 50 percent to pass. The bond needs 40 percent voter turnout from the last general election and 60 percent approval to pass.

When voters approve a levy, they are approving the maximum amount of money a district can collect in property taxes from residents. The tax rate may fluctuate, but the bottom-line amount the district receives can’t be above the approved amounts.

Voters can drop off ballots at one of the following locations until 8 p.m. Tuesday:

Blaine Public Library, 610 3rd St.
Deming Public Library, 5044 Mount Baker Highway.
Everson branch of Whatcom Educational Credit Union, 106 E. Main St.
Ferndale City Hall, 2095 Main St.
Lynden Public Library, 216 4th St.
Meridian Middle School, 861 Ten Mile Road, in Laurel.
South parking lot for Whatcom County Courthouse, 201 Grand Ave. in downtown Bellingham.

The Bellingham Herald published articles on all the items on the Feb. 14 ballot in Whatcom County. To read those, which provide details on the levies, tax and bond requests, click here.

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Two levies go before Mount Baker District voters on Feb. 14 ballot

Written by kie | The Bellingham Herald | February 2, 2012

Mount Baker School District voters, don’t forget the two levies on your ballot.

Click here to read my story on the levies.

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Ferndale, Meridian, Bellingham and Lynden voters asked to approve levies on Feb. 14 ballot

Written by kie | The Bellingham Herald | February 1, 2012

All seven school districts in Whatcom County have put levy or bond requests before voters on the Feb. 14 ballot.

You already should have gotten your ballot in the mail.

Click on the school district below to read the first three stories I’ve written on the levies in the run-up to the Feb. 14 special election:

I’m still working on stories about the requests from Blaine, Nooksack Valley and Mount Baker school districts.

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Ferndale City Council supports Ferndale schools levy

Written by kie | The Bellingham Herald | January 18, 2012

The Ferndale City Council is supporting the Ferndale School District’s four-year maintenance and operations levy, which goes before voters on Feb. 14.

If approved, the levy would bring in between $13 million and $15.5 million each year from 2013-2016.

The levy, which helps fund day-to-day operations of the district, would replace the two-year maintenance and operations levy that expires at the end of 2012.

Here’s the rest of the story from Herald reporter Ralph Schwartz, who covers the Ferndale City Council and who posted the council’s decision on the Politics blog.

The City Council, by the way, also placed a tax measure on the Feb. 14 ballot. It’s asking for a sales tax increase to pay for road maintenance and repairs.

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Nooksack Valley voters face two levy requests for schools in February

Written by kie | The Bellingham Herald | December 20, 2011

Nooksack Valley School District voters will be asked to approve two levies on Feb. 14 — one a replacement measure to help pay for day-to-day operations, and the other a new one to pay for technology as well as maintenance of school roofs and floors.

If approved, the four-year measures would bring in $3.7 million to $4.2 million a year from 2013 through 2016.

“Our schools are a great investment,” Superintendent Mark Johnson said.

To continue to improve “we need local folks to continue to support our schools and our children,” he said. “It is an investment but it’s an important one. I can’t think of a more important one.”

The new levy, known as the technology and capital project levy, would begin the same year a bond is paid off. (The last bond payment is December 2013.) For that reason, its proposed collection in 2013 is lower — at $100,000 — before climbing to $500,000 in the remaining years.

Even with both levies and the last of the bond payment, the projected tax rate would be lower starting in 2013, when it is expected to be $5.67 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value, compared to $5.85 for 2012.

That means the owner of a $200,000 home would pay an estimated $1,170 in school property taxes in 2012, but $1,134 in 2013.

Here’s a look at both levies, which voters are being asked to OK as the school district grapples with more than $1.2 million in federal and state cuts in funding in recent years:

The educational maintenance and operations levy would replace the current levy that expires at the end of 2012.

Like the current one, it would make up more than 20 percent of the district’s budget and would pay for educational needs such as textbooks, class-size reduction and support, building operations and extra-curricular activities that include athletics and music.

The technology and capital projects levy would pay for major maintenance and needed technology, such as classroom computers and replacing a 25-year-old phone system. The state doesn’t pay for classroom technology, district officials said.

In addition to school roofs and floors, this levy would pay for energy retrofitting that would save future energy costs.

The levy would be a pay-as-you-go approach and, unlike a bond, would not require interest payments, officials said.

LEVY FACTS

Estimated tax rates property owners in Nooksack Valley School District would pay if voters on Feb. 14 approve two levies, one a replacement levy for maintenance and operations and the other for technology and capital projects.

2013: $5.67 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value.*
2014: $5.09.
2015: $5.09.
2016: $5.09.

* The projected tax rate includes a bond, which will be paid off in 2013. That bond adds another $1.19 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value.

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Meridian voters will see schools levy request on February ballot

Written by kie | The Bellingham Herald | December 16, 2011

Voters in the Meridian School District will be asked to approve a replacement maintenance and operations levy on Feb. 14.

If it gets the OK, the four-year measure would bring in $3.7 million to a little over $4 million a year from 2013 through 2016.

The levy, which helps pay for the cost of education in the district, would replace the levy that expires at the end of 2012 and make up about 25 percent of the school district’s operating budget.

The estimated tax rate would be $3.82 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value in 2013.

That means a person with a home assessed at $200,000 would pay $764 in school property taxes in 2013.

If approved, the new levy tax rate is expected to be about 81 cents more per $1,000 than the projected tax rate for 2012.

So the owner of a $200,000 home would pay about $13.50 more a month in property taxes in 2013 than 2012.

Superintendent Tim Yeomans said the district is asking for additional dollars — about $900,000 more in 2013 — out of fear that the state will cut all or part of levy equalization funding, which helps property-poor districts keep property taxes from being too high for their residents

Meridian receives about $850,000 a year in levy equalization funding, Yeomans said, adding that the school district can’t wait until March or April on the state’s decision.

“We have to plan on them removing all of it,” Yeomans said.

Property owners also pay about $1 per $1,000 of assessed value for a bond voters approved in February 2010 to renovate aging Meridian High School and Irene Reither Primary School.

In discussions of the replacement levy, Yeomans stressed that school officials have been careful in their spending.

“We are razor thin in how we staff our classrooms, meaning we’re efficient,” he said. “I want to make sure that people know that we’re not doing anything frivolous.”

Yeomans noted that the district has switched over to using Google for many of its computer applications, saving more than $35,000 a year over the last four years.

Other projects have included replacing lighting in one of its elementary schools, saving $300 to $350 a month in electricity costs, and upgrading to fuel-efficient buses — without going to taxpayers for extra money.

“Great communities have great schools,” Yeomans said. “In the most challenging times, I want people to know that when we ask for their tax dollars, that we are being the best stewards possible of their money.”

LEVY FACTS

Here’s a quick look at the estimated tax rates property owners in Meridian School District would pay if voters on Feb. 14 approve a replacement levy for maintenance and operations.

2013: $3.82 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value.
2014: $3.92.
2015: $4.02.
2016: $4.13.

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Two Mount Baker school levies go before voters Feb. 14

Written by kie | The Bellingham Herald | December 12, 2011

Two levies will go before Mount Baker School District voters in February — one a replacement measure to help pay for day-to-day operations and the other for projects that range from fixing leaky roofs to providing technology for students.

The school board decided Thursday, Dec. 8, to place both measures on the Feb. 14 ballot.

Combined with the last year of payments for a 1997 bond, the estimated tax rate would be $4.80 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value in 2013, if voters approve the levies.

That means a person with a home assessed at $200,000 would pay about $960 in 2013. By comparison, the owner of the same home will pay an estimated $854 for 2012.

When voters approve a levy, they are approving the maximum amount of money a district can collect in property taxes from residents; the tax rate may fluctuate, but the bottom-line amount the district receives can’t be above what voters OK.

Here’s a look at each proposed levy, what it would be used for, and the impact on property taxes.

The four-year levy for educational programs and operations would replace one expiring at the end of 2012. It would make up about 20 percent of the district’s general fund.

Expecting more cuts in state funding, school officials are asking voters to approve a higher replacement levy.

They’re referring to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal in her supplemental budget to shorten the school year, and either reduce or eliminate levy equalization funding.

The latter is money that helps property-poor districts keep property taxes from being too high for their residents; Mount Baker received about $350,000 for that this school year.

As was the case with the previous levy, this one would pay for teaching, transportation, school supplies and athletics, among other needs.

It would raise an estimated $4.8 million in 2013 to $5.5 million in 2016.

Estimated tax rates would range from $3.31 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value in 2013 to $3.74 in 2016.

If approved, the six-year facilities and technology levy would raise an estimated $250,000 for 2013, then $1.2 million annually until 2018.

The estimated tax rates would range from 17 cents per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value in 2013; 84 cents in the two years after, then drop to 82 cents for the remainder.

This levy would help pay for repairs of roofs and other maintenance needs, as well as technology for student learning.

“We have some leaking roofs that need to be replaced. Our community has invested in school facilities that we have to maintain,” said Karst Brandsma, interim superintendent for the school district.

It also would help provide for transportation — at 512 square miles, the school district is the state’s second largest geographically, school officials said, and as such it relies heavily on school buses for transportation.

If approved, the measure would take effect as a 1997 bond is paid off in 2013. About $1.30 per $1,000 of the projected tax rate in 2013 is for that bond.

“It allows you to do small projects,” Brandsma said of the levy, adding that it was a pay-as-you-go approach that, unlike a bond, wouldn’t require interest payments. “We’re getting more bang for the dollar.”

The levy also would allow the school district to continue qualifying for state timber revenues for capital projects.

LEARN MORE

Additional information on Mount Baker School District’s four-year educational programs and operations levy, as well as the six-year facilities and technology levy is at www.mtbaker.wednet.edu.

School officials also will hold a number of informational sessions after the first of the year.

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Two Bellingham school levies go before voters Feb. 14

Written by kie | The Bellingham Herald | December 9, 2011

The Bellingham School District will ask voters to approve two replacement levies in February that will bring in about $32 million to $37 million a year through 2016.

The four-year measures are the maintenance and operations levy, and the technology levy. If approved by voters Feb. 14, they would replace levies of the same name that are expiring at the end of 2012.

The owner of a $250,000 home would pay on average about $8 more a month in property taxes, beginning in 2013, for both levies.

The Bellingham School Board approved the amount for the levies, and their length, at a meeting Thursday, Dec. 8.

The requests go before voters as the weak economy drags on and at a time when schools are leaning more on local dollars because of cuts in state and federal funding.

“We have great education in this district and it takes our levies to support that,” Superintendent Greg Baker said. “This is one of the harder times in our lives to be going out and asking for money.”

The levies would pay for nearly 25 percent of the cost of education — including teaching, athletics and transportation — in Bellingham schools, which have about 10,400 students, and for technology, which the state doesn’t fund.

Combined with payments for a 2006 bond, the estimated tax rate would be $3.90 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value in 2013.

That means a person with a home assessed at $250,000 would pay about $975 in 2013.

Board member Steven Smith said what sold him on the technology levy is that the district is educating students for a global economy.

Technology is important in keeping “them competitive at the state level, at the national level, at the world level,” Smith said.

LEVIES AT A GLANCE

Here’s a quick look at the estimated tax rates property owners in the Bellingham School District would pay if voters on Feb. 14 approve two replacement levies — one for maintenance and operations, the other for technology.

The estimated rates below combine the proposed levies, as well as a 2006 bond. Tax rates for the bond range from 60 cents on the low end up to 91 cents.

2013: $3.90 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value.

2014: $4.10.

2015: $4.16.

2016: $4.06.

Additional information on the four-year levies is online at bellinghamschools.org/levyfacts.

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