(The Center Square) – The November general election is less than two weeks away as Spokane County voters weigh in on several tax measures, including three school levies and another $200 million bond.
While local school districts offered only four of the dozen proposals that Spokane County Elections sent out with ballots last week, each gives taxpayers an opportunity to control their cost of living. Approval may only amount to a few extra dollars a year for some people, but it could break the bank for others.
Voters will also consider six tax proposals from local governments and two advisory measures, with one of those requests aligning with the school bond. This article will breakdown the taxpayers’ costs if each school district succeeds; voters can find another article outlining the other ballot measures here.
Together Spokane
Spokane Public Schools and the city of Spokane teamed up this year on a joint effort to fund more than 200 projects if voters approve their $200 million bond and another $240 million levy. If residents only pass one of the proposals, the district and city must adjust course and cut several projects from their plans.
Spokane is asking taxpayers for another 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, bringing the total property tax rate to $2.59 next year. Voters have been requesting this parks levy for years, but now it comes at a time when many residents feel they can’t trust the city to spend their tax dollars responsibly.
SPS estimates that its $200 million bond would cost someone with a $330,000 home around 2 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. The estimated cost if voters pass both is 30 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, which would increase SPS’s total property tax rate with other measures to $3.86.
The collection would last for two decades, costing about $99 annually at the start for a $330,000 home.
Deer Park School District
The Deer Park School District is asking voters to approve a four-year capital levy that would cost $1.45 per $1,000 of assessed property value. If approved, the measure would replace an expiring bond that currently costs about $1.03 per $1,000 of assessed value, increasing the property tax rate by 42 cents.
This proposal follows back-to-back bond failures for DPSD. The last proposal would’ve eventually cost taxpayers $55.1 million, while this levy is estimated to generate $14.6 million over a shorter period.
While bonds require a supermajority to pass, levies like this only need a simple majority to succeed.
If passed, the levy would cost someone with a $330,000 property about $480 annually through 2029.
Orchard Prairie School District
The Orchard Prairie School District is asking voters to replace its Educational Programs and Operations Levy, which would reduce the current rate by 1 cent. The tax would raise an estimated $500,000 over the next two years for OPSD’s general fund at $1.18 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
If passed, the levy would cost someone with a $330,000 property about $390 annually through 2027.
Riverside School District
The Riverside School District, like DPSD, is also asking voters to pass a capital levy, which would cost $1.45 per $1,000 of assessed property value. However, RSD’s proposal would last five years and raise an estimated $18.1 million through 2030, increasing the district’s total property tax rate to nearly $3.
For a $330,000 home, the capital levy alone would cost about $480 annually before RSD’s EP&O levy.
Ballot boxes close in Spokane County at 8 p.m. on Nov. 4, with certification set for Nov. 25.
