Salaries, textbooks, HVAC. Here’s how much school funding Puyallup may ask voters for
Voters in the Puyallup School District may see two levies on the ballot during the upcoming special election.
The school board was expected to consider those levies during the Nov. 15 school board meeting.
One of the proposals is a capital levy, which would pay for improvements and upgrades to school infrastructure. The proposed amount for the six-year levy is $125 million total. Taxpayers would contribute from 2023-28.
The other proposal is to renew an educational programs and operations levy, which will expire in 2022. The proposed amounts for the four-year levy are between $62.9 million to $70.7 million. Taxpayers would contribute from 2023-26.
If the capital and EP&O levies both pass, the average homeowner would pay roughly $150 more in property taxes in 2023 than in 2021.
Homeowners would pay $4.56 per $1,000 of assessed property value beginning 2023 in school district taxes. This totals $2,280 for someone who owns a median-priced home valued at $500,000. Currently, residents pay $4.26 per $1,000 of assessed property value, which amounts to $2,130 for the average homeowner.
The $4.56 tax would be split in three ways — 82 cents would go to the capital levy, $2.49 would go to the EP&O levy and $1.25 would go to other existing bonds. Rates for the capital and EP&O levies would decrease each year.
The capital levy would decrease a few cents each year until it reaches 67 cents, and the EP&O Levy would be $2.49 in 2023 and $2.46 for the following years.
In spring 2021, the district hired a consultant that noted “observed deficiencies” within the district, Mario Casello, assistant superintendent of operations, said during a Nov. 5 school board study session. These deficiencies are features that need to be addressed within the next five years, he said.
About $34.5 million of the $125 million would go to low voltage improvements, Casello said. This includes features “critical to building operations” like fire alarm upgrades, audio enhancement systems and lighting controls.
According to a presentation to the school board, the rest of the $125 million would go to:
- Site improvements - $26.5 million
- Traffic improvements - $11.6 million
- Building envelope - $10 million
- Building interiors - $5.7 million
- Mechanical - $16.7 million
- Electrical - $3.1 million
- Portables - $1.8 million
- Support facilities - $14.6 million
The heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in some schools are more than 25 years old, according to the presentation to the school board. Brouillet Elementary School, for one, has 28-year-old heat pumps that need to be replaced. It will cost about $640,000.
“It’s stuff that people don’t always see or hear because it’s not really an attractive piece, but it’s something that’s so important to our daily operations,” Casello said.
The EP&O Levy pays for day-to-day operations, salaries that aren’t funded by the state, as well as supplies and textbooks, Laura Marcoe, assistant superintendent of business services, said during the study session.
The EP&O Levy makes up 15 percent of the district’s total revenue, Marcoe said. The existing levy provided the district with about $62.3 million for the 2021-22 fiscal year. More than half or $37 million went to unfunded salary and benefits.
Marcoe said salary and benefit costs that are funded by the state are inadequate. About 87 percent of the salaries and benefits for staff — including teachers, nurses and counselors — are state-funded.
“Our levy funding makes a significant impact on the amount of staff we are able to employ, which in turn allows us to offer smaller class sizes and other supports that impact the quality of education and services that we provide,” Marcoe said.
If both levies pass, other school districts like Bethel and Sumner-Bonney Lake will still have higher tax rates per year than Puyallup, Marcoe said. Voters in Bethel are paying $5.31 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
“What we are proposing is still very conservative compared to our neighboring districts,” Marcoe said.
Unlike bonds, levies fill the gap between state and federal funding as well as the actual cost of providing services to students, Marcoe said. Bonds are for longer-term investments like building schools, and require 60-percent voter approval.
School district levies need a simple majority to pass. The special election is on Feb. 8, 2022.
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
