Cheney School District voters are being asked to renew the district’s Educational Programs and Operations (Maintenance and Operations) levy. Ballots were mailed last week, and need to either be postmarked or dropped off at local ballot drop off locations by end of the day, Feb. 10.
If approved, the proposed levy will raise $9.3 million in 2016, $9.5 in 2017 and $9.7 million in 2017 through levy rates of $3.17, $3.14 and $3.11 per $1,000 of assessed property tax valuation. District Finance Director Kassidy Probert told the school board at a September meeting that the proposed levy rate is an increase over the previous 2012 rate, but will decrease over time as anticipated increases in assessed property values take place.
“We will gain funding through the M and O levy, but will see a reduction in the amount,” he said.
According to information from the school district, the levy pays for 21 percent of the district’s operating budget. If passed, an additional 2 percent would be received through the state’s Local Effort Assistance (LEA) funding program.
LEA funding reduced property tax burdens on owners within districts with lower total property value than the statewide average.
Local levies help pay for a variety of programs and material needs. In the Cheney School District, those include funding of school nurses, counselors and teachers to help with K-12 class size reductions mandated by the state Legislature.
The levy also pays for sports and after school activities, music and fine arts programs, special education teacher and support specialists, transportation, textbooks, instructional materials and technology as well as curriculum adoptions.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)