If you’re a voter in the Snohomish School District, here’s a quick weekend chore for you: Take that school-levy ballot that came in the mail last week, vote yes on both propositions and mail the ballot in. If you’re a voter who goes to a polling place, circle April 25 in red on your calendar so you remember to vote that day.
This is an urgent chore, like stopping a leak before it ruins the bathroom floor. If it goes undone, the damage will be major. This is the last time in 2006 the district can ask for levy money; if these measures fail a second time, dramatic budget cuts will follow.
Low voter turnout sank both measures in February. The number of “no” votes was about the same as in past years, but total turnout and “yes” votes were lower than usual. Each measure got about 57 percent support, just short of the 60 percent required for passage.
Complacency was probably the culprit; passage of the district’s bond measure two years ago showed overwhelming public support for schools. That support is well-deserved in a district that has staged a remarkable turnaround since a double-levy failure and financial mismanagement (the latter by leadership that has long since been replaced) in the 1990s.
But that turnaround will be threatened if voters don’t show that support again on April 25. A four-year maintenance and operation levy on the ballot will simply replace the existing one, and will cost a penny more per $1,000 in assessed property value. That means an extra $2.50 per year for the owner of a $250,000 home. The M&O levy provides 18 percent of the district’s budget – the difference between what the state provides and what’s really needed.
Without it, some 80 jobs will be cut, including teachers, counselors, librarians, administrators, teaching assistants, clerical and technology staff. Two-thirds of sports and other extra-curricular activities will be lost. Hal Moe Pool, a significant public amenity subsidized by the school district, would be closed. Forget about new textbooks and equipment. New schools funded by the 2004 bond issue will be built, but their opening could be delayed because there won’t be enough money to operate them.
Also on the ballot is a two-year levy to replace 28 aging buses, many of which have more than 200,000 miles on them. That levy would add about $60 per year to the taxes on a $250,000 house, and would go away after two years.
The double-levy failure in 1994 launched a tailspin that took years to recover from. A repeat is unthinkable. Help avoid it by remembering to vote.
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