Seven Snohomish County school districts have measures on the Feb. 9 special election ballot and five of them are asking voters to renew levies for technology or day-to-day operations.
The Edmonds, Mukilteo, Arlington, Stanwood-Camano and Lakewood school districts have levies on the ballots, which are being sent to voters today.
In each district, voters last approved a four-year levy in 2012 or a six-year levy in 2010. The new measures would pick up where the current ones leave off at the start of 2017.
Levy money can go toward teacher salaries, technology upgrades, building maintenance, extracurriculars and transportation. Some districts also have used levy dollars for special education programs, student laptops or all-day kindergarten.
Edmonds
The Edmonds School District, with 20,468 students, is asking voters to approve a $59 million capital and technology levy.
Some $32.4 million would be for technology improvements. That includes expanding a pilot program providing Chromebook computers to students in third through 12th grade.
“It allows us to put these devices into student’s hands faster,” said Stewart Mhyre, the district’s executive director of business and operations.
Money also would be spent to replace computer labs, teacher laptops, cameras and sound systems.
The levy would pay for $26 million in capital projects, including replacing roofs on 10 buildings. Upgrades to outdoor facilities are planned, such as remaking the baseball field at Edmonds-Woodway High School. The distance from home plate to the outfield fence is only 285 feet, when it should be at least 350 feet, Mhyre said. The field would be reconfigured and synthetic turf would be installed.
Other projects include replacing sports fields at Lynnwood High School and removing construction debris buried at Cedar Valley Elementary School.
The tax rate for the four-year levy is expected to be between 56 and 59 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, or about $177 a year for the owner of a $300,000 home.
Mukilteo
The 15,149-student Mukilteo School District is asking voters to extend a capital levy for another six years. It would raise about $20 million.
The money typically is used to pay for unexpected projects such as roof replacements, plumbing repairs and refurbishing pavement, said school district spokesman Andy Muntz.
“It’s a grab bag of things that come up,” he said.
It’s similar to a rainy day fund that people might have to fix the car when the transmission goes out or to make home repairs, Muntz said.
The tax rate would remain at its current level: 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for the first year, or $75 for the owner of a $300,000 home.
Arlington
The Arlington School District is seeking nearly $57 millionCQ over the next four years. The tax rate would be $3.56 per $1,000 assessed property value, about $1,068 on a $300,000 home.
Among the programs supported by levy dollars are a STEM project at Post Middle School, manufacturing and construction courses at Arlington High School and the school resource officer. The district serves more than 5,400 students.
Voters still are paying off a $54 million bond that built Arlington High School and Presidents and Pioneer elementaries along with renovating other schools. That bond is set to expire in 2020. The rate is $1.50 per $1,000, or about $450 a year on a $300,000 home.
Stanwood-Camano
The Stanwood-Camano School District, with about 4,200 students, is asking voters for $51.3 million over the next four years. The rate is estimated at $2.28 per $1,000 property value, or about $685 on a $300,000 home.
This year, levy dollars pay for full-day kindergarten. Some of the money also goes to special education and school meals.
Homeowners in the district are paying off a previous levy for building and technology upgrades. The rate is set to drop from $1.44 per $1,000 assessed value to 15 cents per $1,000 in 2018.
Until 2018, the combined rate for the existing and proposed levies would be $3.72 per $1,000 assessed value. That’s $1,116 on a $300,000 home.
The district also is looking into building a new high school and might seek voter approval in 2017 for a bond to do so.
Lakewood
The Lakewood School District is putting two levies in front of voters, one for operations and the other for technology and maintenance. The district has about 2,250 students.
The operations levy would bring in $26.6 million over the next four years. The tax rate would start at $3.18 per $1,000 assessed value or about $954 on a $300,000 home, the same as the 2016 levy rate. It’s expected to go up to $3.22 per $1,000 by 2020.
The four-year technology levy would bring in $2.85 million for upgrading equipment, software, networks, security, training and IT support. It would cost taxpayers 34 cents per $1,000 assessed value in 2017 and 2018, then 35 cents in 2019 and 2020. That’s $102 a year on a $300,000 home for the first two years and $105 for the last two.
Homeowners also are paying $2.21 per $1,000 of property value on a $66.8 million bond approved in April 2014 to build a new high school.
If both levies were approved, the tax rate combined with the bond would be $5.73 per $1,000 in 2017, totaling $1,719 per year on a $300,000 home.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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