By Eric Stevick
Herald Writer
For voters in Lake Stevens, a four-year levy proposal represents maintaining the status quo. Their neighbors to the northeast in Granite Falls will consider two levies and decide whether to build a new high school.
Voters in each community cast their ballots Tuesday.
Neither districts’ proposals has faced organized opposition.
Here is a look at the two proposals:
Mike Haug, a father of two students and a veteran of levy and bond campaigns, recognizes that levies, which support the day-to-day operation of schools, are an easier sell than bonds, which typically provide the bricks and mortar for renovation or new construction.
While levies run out and voters decide whether to renew the funding, bonds represent a new tax.
Haug hopes voters will understand why the district is asking for both.
The property tax rate of $2.42 per $1,000 for the two-year maintenance and operation levy will remain the same as the previous levy, which expires this year. It helps pay for everything from textbooks, transportation and teachers to extracurricular activities and building upkeep.
A second levy for technology and capital projects would help pay for everything from computers and musical instruments to maintenance repairs, such as a new roof. The district separates the levies to take advantage of a law that allows it to collect state money, roughly $35,000, from the sale of timber within the district. Cost of the two-year technology levy is 42 cents per $1,000.
The district is also proposing a 20-year, $21 million bond measure to build a new high school.
Haug pointed to recent and projected enrollment growth. In 1996, only about 70 students graduated from Granite Falls High School. By 2011, that number is expected to reach 225.
"We need to create more space for more students to have a proper learning environment," Haug said.
Although the bond measure is for a new high school, it actually meets the needs of the entire district, kindergarten through 12th grade, Haug said. The existing high school would become a middle school, and a third elementary school could be moved into the vacated middle school.
The high school, which would be next to Monte Cristo Elementary School, would house 800 students with the ability to expand to 1,200. It would include a theater to seat 500, a gym for 1,200 and four science labs, including a greenhouse.
The $21 million generated locally would be in addition to $9 million from the state.
The levy proposal, which would replace a four-year levy that expires this year, provides the school district with 15 percent of its operating budget.
Over the past four years, the levy collection rate has averaged $3.43 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation. The new proposed is $3.22 per $1,000 for each of the four years.
An increase in property tax assessments led the district to lower the rate, district officials said.
By the dollar, 62 cents support teachers’ salaries and instruction; 11 cents help bus students; 11 more cents go for student activities, including athletics, music and drama; another 11 cents aid instructional technology; 4 cents help building upkeep; and 1 cent is earmarked for the district’s swimming pool.
Sharon Furth, chairwoman of the citizens’ levy committee, has promoted the levy. To Furth, the importance goes beyond her children learning math and reading.
"Schools are an important component to the community," she said.
"It just makes the whole community come together when the school is doing well."
You can call Herald Writer Eric Stevick at 425-339-3446 or send e-mail to stevick@heraldnet.com.
Proposed maintenance and operation levy rate: $2.42 per $1,000 valuation for both years
Cost on a $180,000 home: $435.60 a year
Amount raised: $1.83 million for 2003; $1.87 million for 2004
Technology levy: Proposed rate, 42 cents per $1,000
Cost on a $180,000 home: $75.60 a year
Amount raised: $283,000 for each year
Construction bonds: Proposed rate, $1.16 per $1,000 for first year
Cost on a $180,000 home: $208.80 a year
Amount raised: $21 million
Proposed levy rate: $3.22 per $1,000 for each of the four years
Cost on a $180,000 home: $579.60 a year
Amount raised: $6.9 million for 2003; $7.2 million for 2004; $7.6 million for 2005; $7.9 million for 2006
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