PORT ANGELES — You’re a registered voter, and today or tomorrow you’ll get a Port Angeles School District maintenance and operations levy ballot in your mailbox.
For some, voting either yes or no will be a no-brainer.
But others will need more information before sticking the completed, one-item ballot in the double envelopes and returning them to the Clallam County Auditor’s Office either by mail or in person.
Some frequently-asked questions:
* How much will the tax levy cost property taxpayers and for how long?
* What does the maintenance and operations levy pay for?
* Why is the district asking for a higher tax rate by 10 cents — to $2.98 per $1,000 of assessed valuation — than the last levy approved in 2003?
These are a sample of questions that have surfaced in recent weeks over the year’s second Port Angeles levy election, which has stoked the fears of students, parents and teachers in the face of more than $4.5 million in cuts that will have to be made next school year if the measure fails at the polls.
To win, the levy must receive 60 percent yes votes.
Ballots must be returned or postmarked by May 17 at 8 p.m.
On Wednesday, 18,478 ballots were mailed to voters in the school district, said Cathleen McKeown, Clallam County auditor.
