PORT ANGELES — In addition to placing a $98.25 million bond before voters to rebuild most of Port Angeles High School, the School Board also voted unanimously to put a two-year maintenance and operations levy on the same Feb. 10 ballot.
The decision was made Thursday night during a regular board meeting at Stevens Middle School.
The levy would collect $8.6 million in the first year, and $8.8 million in the second year.
It would replace the current four-year levy, which expires in 2015.
Board members noted that the district usually puts a four-year levy on the ballot, but this year selected a two-year option because of their hopes that a legislative resolution to the 2012 state Supreme Court McCleary Decision will take much of the cost of running the schools off of local voters’ backs.
“We do not know what will happen with the settlement,” said board member Lonnie Linn.
If the legislature fully funds education, as the McCleary Decision mandates, many of the costs currently paid for by the maintenance and operations levy could be covered by the state, Linn said.
A four-year levy would lock taxpayers into paying a higher rate even if the district began receiving more state funding and could operate on a less expensive levy, he said.
Board member Sarah Methner said that maintenance and operations levies were designed for school districts to add on locally valued “extra” programs, such as the orchestra program or maintaining vocational training courses.
Instead it has become a major portion of the district’s funding for essential operations, Methner said.
In the past year the district has begun replacing positions that were lost after the 2008 budget cuts due to the Great Recession, such as school counselors.
“We’re finally at a point where we’re adding back,” said board member Cindy Kelly.
“We want to be true to our voters,” Kelly said.
Board members said if the state legislature does not meet the funding targets set by the state Supreme Court, then the district can come back in two years for another levy.
Levy and bond
Bond money and levy money serve different purposes.
Bond money must be used to build or replace school buildings and major equipment.
Maintenance and operation levies help pay for the annual cost of running schools.
School districts depend on maintenance and operation levies for operating revenue. State and federal funds only provide a portion of the district’s funding needs.
Currently, levy funds account for 20.5 percent of the Port Angeles School District’s budget.
