CHIMACUM — The Chimacum School District’s replacement levy has passed with 61.42 percent of the vote in the first count of ballots, which is a relief for officials who were relying on the measure for a large portion of the district’s funding.
“I’m very pleased,” Chimacum Superintendent Rick Thompson said Wednesday. “Now we just have to see what’s going on in Olympia. The bulk of our funding does come from Olympia, and they’re not done, so we’re in this climate of uncertainty still.”
While most of the school’s money comes from the state, the replacement educational programs and operation levy passed in Tuesday’s special election accounts for 22 percent of the district’s annual funding.
The levy goes toward a variety of district expenditures including extracurricular programs, professional development for staff, new technology, online testing, advanced placement courses, classroom supplies, competitive salaries for teachers and basic utilities and maintenance.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office counted all ballots on hand Tuesday — 4,197, or 45.15 percent of the 9,296 issued in the Chimacum district.
The next count of ballots in the all-mail election will be at noon Friday.
The office counted a total of 4,366 ballots, or 44.73 percent of those issued in the Chimacum, Sequim and Quillayute Valley School District elections, but expects to receive more in the mail and from drop boxes.
“We were worried people might hold off until the funding from Olympia was known, but that wasn’t the case,” Thompson said.
This is the fifth levy passed in a row for the Chimacum School District. The last one was passed in 2014 with roughly 64 percent of the vote. Levies require 50 percent plus one vote for passage.
This levy will cost property owners an estimated $1.82 per $1,000 assessed value when implemented in 2018. That will go up to $1.90 in 2019, $1.99 in 2020 and $2.08 in 2021.
The levy will raise an estimated $3.42 million for the district in its first year, followed by $3.59 million in 2019, $3.77 million in 2020 and $3.96 million in 2021.
Along with Chimacum, the Sequim, Quillayute Valley and Port Angeles school districts also had levies on Tuesday’s ballot that passed by healthy margins.
The Port Angeles replacement educational programs and operation levy passed with 69.15 percent of the vote.
The measure for Sequim and Quillayute Valley were multi-county elections and were on the ballot in both Jefferson and Clallam counties.
Quillayute Valley’s levy passed with 63.8 percent of the vote in Clallam County and 56.25 percent in Jefferson County, with a total of 63.55 percent of voters in favor of the replacement levy.
Sequim’s replacement educational programs and operation levy also passed in both counties with a total of 65.54 percent of the total vote. Clallam County voters were 65.64 percent in favor of the measure, as were 57.66 percent of Jefferson County voters.
The Sequim School District was also able to get a capital projects levy passed, with 66.74 percent of Clallam County voters and 68.61 percent of Jefferson County voters in favor. It passed with 66.76 percent of the total vote.
“I’m really pleased with the communities out here on the Peninsula in general,” said Thompson. “It shows that Washingtonians know they need to invest in their communities and schools.”
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
Executive Editor Leah Leach contributed to this report.
