We endorse: In Puyallup, say ‘yes’ to stopgap school levy to halt financial plunge
This Editorial Board has never opposed a school operations levy and we won’t start now, even during a pandemic.
And while we’re not crazy about the overreliance on property owners to keep the K-12 system running, we encourage voters living in the Puyallup School District to say “Yes” to the supplemental levy on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The additional $0.76 per $1,000 of assessed property value is a two-year stopgap to fend off deep cuts to school operations.
Keep in mind there are no building projects on the table. A year ago Puyallup voters turned down a $273 million capital improvement bond to relieve overcrowding at four high schools. Rerunning that package would have been a bad look at a time when campuses are empty and Puyallup kids won’t return until sometime in 2021.
But remote learning continues full steam while COVID-19 refuses to subside. Supplemental levy funds will be used to pay for staff, extracurricular activities, special education expenses and upkeep of school grounds. If approved, total taxes collected from property owners in the district would increase from the current $3.83 per $1,000 of assessed value to $4.32.
It’s a shame school districts have to go to voters with their hands out, but Puyallup is out of options.
“We’ve worked so hard over the years to bring classroom sizes down,” school board president Kathy Yang told a member of the Editorial Board. “We don’t want to go backwards.”
Yang said the levy is crucial and pointed out that 85 percent of the budget goes to staffing. The jobs of teachers, aides and nurses are on the line.
She pointed to recent 20 percent cuts in central administration as a continued effort to be efficient. And they’ve already tapped into district reserves.
During the last school year, the district spent $323 million but only brought in $310 million. Under the status quo, the district estimates it will run a budget deficit of $39.6 million over the next three years.
Last year the Washington Legislature raised the so-called “levy lid.” The maximum amount school districts can request from voters went from $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $2.50. Meantime, evidence grows that state lawmakers’ long-awaited McCleary “fix,” prompted by a 2012 Supreme Court order to fully and fairly fund public education, hasn’t solved every problem.
“McCleary didn’t fix the inequity piece of school funding,” Yang said. “Puyallup still receives one of the lowest per person reimbursements in the state,” a problem only exacerbated by COVID when enrollment went way down.
This supplemental levy will add to the four-year Educational Programs levy that voters passed in February 2018.The two-year levy expansion would bring in an estimated $17.8 million in 2021 and $19.2 million in 2022, according to an Aug. 3 presentation.
At a time when there are several unknown factors impacting Puyallup’s budget, including federal relief funds and additional costs to implement continuous online learning, Puyallup rightly wants to avoid a deeper slide into fiscal trouble.
If voters approve, and we hope they do, the total tax rate would still be lower than neighboring school districts, which vary from Sumner-Bonney Lake’s $5.38 per $1,000 of assessed property value to Orting’s $4.82.
School looks a lot different right now, but securing the educational future of South Sound children is as important as ever.
ABOUT OUR ENDORSEMENTS
The News Tribune Editorial Board interviewed candidates and did other research before making our picks for the 2020 election. Endorsements are intended to promote civic discourse and encourage voters to dig deeper. Board members include: Stephanie Pedersen, TNT president and publisher; Matt Misterek, editorial page editor; Karen Irwin, editorial writer; Matt Driscoll, local news columnist; Pamela Transue, community representative and former president of Tacoma Community College; and Jim Walton, community representative and former Tacoma city manager. Read more about the candidates in our online Voter Guide.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 2:00 PM.