Contact State Representatives To Fully Fund Education
I would like to give another perspective about the School Levy. I am a parent and grandparent to kids in the Nine Mile Falls school district. The following are actual figures from my property taxes. First are figures of my regular tax- county tax= $476.23, conservation futures= $17.61, State school $893.05, road $530.92, Fire regular $ 440.97, Library regular $199.25, for a total of $2558.03 for regular taxes.
Now for levies and bond. Fire special $696.43, Nine Mile M&O $1195.99 (at $3.00/$1000) Nine Mile bond $937.62 for a total of $2830.04. I pay more in levies and bonds than I do for my regular taxes.
With the new rate of $3.43/$1000 I will be paying $1366.85 in M&O levies compared to the $893.05 regular Tax. At the rate of $1366.85 it will take only 2,034 homes for the $2,780,000 levy. That’s over 150% in addition to the $893.05, just to pay for 1/4 of the M&O. When do we solve the problem; at $4.00? $5.00? $6.00?
Although the school district has tried for years to get the state to fully fund schools, they have not been able to do so, and still the state keeps taking away funds and we keep paying more. Now we have hope in the Supreme Court ruling McCleary vs. State of Washington. The ruling is that the state must amply fund all Washington children’s education as the state’s first and highest priority before any other state programs or operations. The Supreme Court is retaining jurisdiction to assure success of this ruling. The ruling gives the state till 2018 to comply.
I believe this is too long to wait. I believe we as individuals, mothers, fathers and grandparents, need to call their Representatives and voice your concern about how important it is to get the state to fully fund the schools NOW! This will show support for our school districts and reduce the levy, hopefully to $0. If you can vote, you can call your Representative.
Bill Pattison
Nine Mile Falls