(The Center Square) – A pair of Seattle Public Schools’ levies received overwhelming support from voters in Tuesday’s special election, giving the district continued funding for school operations and renovations.
Both the Educational Programs and Operations Levy and the Building Excellence VI Capital Levy garnered more than 70% support from voters, according to results from King County Elections.
The Building Excellence VI Capital Levy increases its expiring tax rate of 78 cents per $1,000 in assessed value to 93 cents to generate $1.8 billion over six years. Funding goes toward school building improvements, including renovations and replacements of deteriorating school buildings.
Five school construction projects are planned to use funding generated by the levy over the six-year period.
The Educational Programs and Operations Levy renews existing funding for day-to-day operations not fully funded by the state. It increases its current tax rate of 63 cents per $1,000 in assessed value to 78 cents per $1,000 in assessed value.
The levy provides 16% of Seattle Public Schools’ operating budget, with funding going toward additional school security staff, gaps in funding for special education services, student transportation services, healthy student meals, multilingual learner services, and student opportunities including extracurriculars like athletics and drama.
The district is now relying on a proposed bill in the state Legislature that would increase the levy cap to allow the district to collect the full $747 million in the three-year Educational Programs and Operations Levy.
If that bill is approved, the school district’s tax rate would be $2.12 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of an average Seattle home – valued at approximately $851,500 – would pay $1,805 per year toward the school district in 2026 if this were the case.
The levy’s approval comes with less than 20% of registered voters’ ballots being collected on the first night of the special election. Voter turnout for the February special election in King County is typically low, with around 30% of registered voters turning in their ballots.
Seattle Public Schools put out a statement on Tuesday night thanking voters for approving the two levies.
“Both levies replace expiring ones and help bridge the gap between state funding and school needs,” the school district stated.
Seattle Public Schools will not be able to use the two levies to help resolve its $94 million budget shortfall.
