(The Center Square) – The 2025 general election is over, and the results are pouring in, showing clear winners and losers as several Spokane County school districts proposed taxes, with some falling short.
The big one on Tuesday’s ballot was a joint proposal between the city of Spokane and Spokane Public Schools. A few other smaller districts around the county also pushed tax proposals this November, but voters appear to have only passed one so far. Spokane County elections will count more ballots today.
Voters also weighed in on several other tax proposals from local governments around the region. This article will focus on which school bonds and levies passed and how they will impact taxpayers. People can find results for other municipal tax proposals, advisory measures, and city council elections here.
Together Spokane
The most significant tax proposals this election were the city of Spokane’s $240 million parks levy and SPS’s $200 million bond. Combined, both make Together Spokane, a plan years in the making to fund the construction of roughly 200 projects across the city and school district. Both passed Tuesday night.
The levy passed with 54.8% of the vote on Tuesday night since it only required a simple majority, but the bond required a supermajority. Voters barely pushed it through the door with 60.72% of the vote on Tuesday, but that could change as the county processes around 22,000 ballots in the coming days.
If the bond falls short, SPS and the city will have to cut several projects from the initiative. Combined, the levy and bond would cost property owners roughly 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or $99 annually for a $330,000 home. The collection would last 20 years, with the rate increasing over time.
Deer Park School District
The Deer Park School District asked voters to approve a four-year capital levy valued $14.6 million.
Taxpayers rejected two bonds from DPSD last year and did so again with the levy on Tuesday night.
If approved, it would’ve cost $1.45 per $1,000 of assessed property value, raising the current rate by 42 cents. The levy only requires a supermajority to pass, so if residents close the 120-vote gap with the remaining votes, it could pass, costing someone with a $330,000 property about $480 annually.
Orchard Prairie School District
The Orchard Prairie School District was the only district outside SPS to succeed Tuesday, after 52.58% of voters opted to replace its Educational Programs and Operations Levy. The result ultimately reduced the current rate by 1 cent to $1.18 per $1,000 of assessed property value for the rural community.
Estimated to raise $500,000 through 2027, the levy costs about $390 annually for a $330,000 home.
Riverside School District
The Riverside School District, like DPSD, also asked voters to pass a capital levy and came up short on Tuesday night. The five-year capital levy would’ve raised an estimated $18.1 million through 2030, but now RSD will have to try again in a future election or find other ways to fund its capital projects.
The levy would’ve cost $1.45 per $1,000 of assessed value, or $480 annually for a $330,000 home.
The county will count the estimated 22,000 remaining ballots over the coming days before certifying the results on Nov. 25.
