PORT ANGELES — Voters in three Clallam County public school districts — Port Angeles, Sequim and Quillayute Valley — are being asked to approve levies during Tuesday’s special election.
Ballots are due by 8 p.m. Tuesday. They either must be postmarked by Tuesday or placed in drop boxes at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St.; Sequim Village shopping center in the J.C. Penney parking lot; or at 500 E. Division St. in Forks.
As of Friday, 15,880 ballots had been returned, said Clallam County Auditor Shoona Riggs, the elections coordinator for Clallam County. That’s 33.25 percent of the 47,758 ballots issued in the county.
Voters
Registered Clallam County voters number 20,839 in the Port Angeles School District, 23,608 in the Sequim School District and 3,291 in the Quillayute Valley School District.
In the Port Angeles district, 6,082 voters, or 29.2 percent of 20,837, had returned ballots by Friday. The Sequim School District is seeing a higher voter turnout rate so far, with 8,952 voters returning ballots out of 23,608, or 37.9 percent. Quillayute Valley School District voters have returned 846 ballots out of 3,291, or 25.7 percent.
Sequim’s two measures and Quillayute Valley’s measure also will be voted on by small numbers of registered voters in Jefferson County.
In Jefferson County, as of Friday, 112 of the 313 registered voters in the Sequim district had returned ballots for a turnout of 35.78 percent, while 29 ballots of the 152 registered voters in the Quillayute Valley district serving Forks had returned ballots for a turnout of 19.08 percent.
The Port Angeles School District is asking voters to approve a $36.4 million education programs and operation replacement levy that would fund 22 percent of the district’s daily operating budget.
Officials have stressed it is not a new tax.
If approved, the district would collect $9.1 million annually for four years starting in 2018. It is a renewal of the levy approved by voters in 2015, which expires at the end of this year.
Marc Jackson, Port Angeles district superintendent, said he is hopeful the levy will pass.
“The word we’re picking up is very positive,” he said. “We’re feeling very optimistic.”
The district estimates property owners would pay $3.30 per $1,000 of assessed property value, or about $660 annually for a home worth about $200,000, in 2018. Estimated rates for the next three years are $3.26 in 2019, $3.23 in 2020 and $3.20 in 2021.
The district has earmarked 54 percent of the levy to go directly to student programs, which Jackson said includes keeping lower class sizes, after-school programs, music, special education and career and tech education.
“It’s worth it, but there’s a cost to it,” Jackson said. “We’re excited and these are all good things.”
The Sequim School District is asking its voters to approve two levies: a three-year capital projects levy and a four-year renewal of the educational programs and operation levy.
Sequim Superintendent Gary Neal said the district has listened to the community, which has rejected four bond proposals in recent years, and is now trying a different approach to funding capital improvements.
“We’ll just take smaller chunks and see if the community is supportive of that,” Neal said.
While a bond would cost upward of $60 million, the levy comes in at less than $6 million over three years.
The capital projects levy would fund demolition of the unused portion of Sequim Community School — which was found unsafe for students in 2012 — allowing the district to qualify for $4.3 million in state matching funds for new school construction.
The levy would allow the district to “renovate a desperately needed central kitchen,” Neal said.
The capital projects levy would cost property owners an estimated 16 cents per $1,000 assessed value in 2018, 36 cents per $1,000 in 2019 and 81 cents per $1,000 in 2020.
The district would collect $681,000 in 2018, $1.5 million in 2019 and $3.5 million in 2020.
The $26.5 million educational programs and operation levy, which would replace a levy that expires at the end of this year, would cost property owners an estimated $1.52 per $1,000 assessed value in 2018, $1.54 in 2019, $1.55 in 2020 and $1.57 in 2021.
The district would collect $6.3 million in 2018, $6.5 million in 2019, $6.7 million in 2020 and $6.9 million in 2021.
“We want people to get out and exercise their right to vote,” Neal said. “That’s the way for our community to have input.”
He urges anyone with questions to contact the district office at 360-582-3260.
The Quillayute Valley School District is asking voters to approve a maintenance and operations levy to replace a levy that expires at the end of this year.
The levy would provide about 13 percent of the district’s $29 million annual budget for four years. It would collect $714,304 annually, matched by the state at $3,188,144 each year.
“We’re pretty conservative in the amount we’ve gone out for in the last two decades,” said Superintendent Diana Reaume.
She said the district is asking for a levy that maximizes the state’s contribution to the school through its Local Effort Assistance fund, which supports property-poor districts.
“A good chunk is to support students,” she said, adding that it would support about 35 full-time jobs in the district.
The levy would cost property owners an estimated $1.48 per $1,000 assessed value in 2018 and 2019, $1.46 per $1,000 in 2020 and $1.44 per $1,000 in 2021. The district would collect $714,304 each year.
To reach the Clallam County Auditor’s Office, go to Suite 1 in the courthouse or call 360-417-2217.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.
