Dear Sultan School District voters, just a quick note to help explain what’s going on with the levy. Several years ago some rural school districts filed a lawsuit against the state because the Legislature wasn’t fully funding schools. Rural communities paid more per family and our students got less. This is because we don’t have malls, big box stores or huge industrial areas to share the costs. The McCleary decision has fixed that and we will be seeing our local levy amounts drop over the next four-year cycle.
This year is the last year of the higher levy that we passed five years ago. This levy still had to cover basic education like teachers, etc. In order to pay for education fairly across the state the Legislature is increasing the state’s share of property taxes for everyone. So this one year we will see a spike in our taxes because of the state increase and the fact that we have to finish paying the last year of the old higher levy. We are all going to have to power through it.
The good news is that after 2018 the local levy amount will be less and we will see that reflected in our tax statements.
I applaud the rural schools who stood strong and demanded that the state treat every child the same no matter if they live in a wealthy area or not. It hasn’t been easy but I think we are on the right track.
Please vote to approve the new, lower levy rate and help continue to build opportunities for all students.
Debbie Copple
Sultan
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