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Levies to be decided next week
Services, jobs and extra-curricular activities in local schools could be in danger of reduced funding or being eliminated entirely depending on Special Election results Tuesday, Feb. 13.
DAVENPORT - Jobs, extra-curricular activities and school happenings not funded by the state could be on the line in next week's special election. Citizens around the county, including in Davenport, Odessa, Reardan, Edwall and Harrington, will vote on whether to replace expiring levies with new levies by Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Two levies are on the ballot in the Davenport and Odessa School Districts, while one levy is running in the Reardan-Edwall and Harrington School Districts.
All levies are replacement levies, meaning no new taxes are being proposed. And all proposed levies are of equal or lesser cost than what taxpayers are contributing in 2024.
In all area schools, athletics, technology, school safety officers, some curriculum, extra-curricular activities like FFA, FBLA and Knowledge Bowl, bus travel for events, preschools, utilities and facilities costs are all fully or partially funded by levy dollars without state support and would be in serious danger of getting the axe if levies were to fail.
Nutrition services, counselors, school nurses and classified staffing would also be in danger without levy funding.
Davenport running two levies
The Davenport School District is asking voters to pass an Educational Programs and Operations levy valued at about $2.30 per $1,000 assessed property value and a capital levy valued at about $1 per $1,000 assessed property value. Both levies would expire after four years.
Exact levy collection amounts between the two levies would be $1,628,609 in 2025, $1,677,468 in 2026, $1,727,791 in 2027 and $1,779,625 in 2028.
The proposed combined value of $3.30 per $1,000 assessed value is about 35 cents less than the already-approved 2024 bill of $3.65 per $1,000 assessed value, but is the highest base cost of the four area public schools.
However, superintendent Chad Prewitt noted, this is nothing new. Historically, Davenport has had the highest levy rate per taxpayer in Lincoln County.
But the levy is also second lowest among the four schools regarding cost per student at $2,635.29 per student. The District is the second largest in the county, behind Reardan-Edwall.
And the exact total should slip beneath $3.30 if the District continues to grow, Prewitt said.
"We were the only District (in the area) to grow," Prewitt said. "We had about $9 million in new construction last year...if we keep growing, that $3.30 is going to drop."
If the levy fails, the District would attempt to run it again in April, Prewitt said. Without the levy dollars, which make up 11% of the District's operating budget, staff positions and extracurricular programs would be facing cuts.
From three levies to two in Odessa
Odessa School District voters are also deciding on Educational Programs and Operations and capital project levies. That's one levy less than was approved in 2023, when voters approved a transportation levy at 47 cents per $1,000 assessed property value.
Both replacement levies are for one year, to be collected in 2025. The EP&O levy is for $625,000, or $1.89 per $1,000 assessed value, while the capital project levy is for $125,000, or 38 cents per $1,000 assessed value.
That's a combined $2.27 per $1,000 assessed value, which is 43 cents less per $1,000 assessed value than the 2024 bill.
Superintendent Steve Fisk said the levy, which makes up 13 to 17% of the school's operating budget, is a chance for the community to "place a value on programs important to them."
"These are such important activities for kids," Fisk said. "In a small town, they really represent the culture, and there's no (other) mechanism for funding those."
Reardan rates stay the same
The Reardan-Edwall School District, the largest in the county with a current enrollment of 742 students, is asking taxpayers to pay approximately $2 per $1,000 assessed value on a single 3-year EP&O levy. That's the same rate that was approved in 2021.
Exact collection would be $1,933,471 in 2025, $2,030,144 in 2026 and $2,131,651 in 2027.
"If the levy does not pass we would likely run it again in April," superintendent Eric Sobotta said. "A levy costs several thousand dollars to run but we would need to do that as it makes up roughly 15% of our operating budget."
Harrington asks for same dollars, lower rate
The Harrington School District is asking voters to approve a 2-year levy for $375,000 each year. That's the same total as 2023 and 2024, but due to rising property values, decreases the amount per $1,000 assessed value from $2.20 to $2.13.
"We need more staff than what the state provides for," superintendent Howard King said. "Special education would take a hit. Transportation would take a hit. We'd maybe have to cut some bus runs."
According to the Lincoln County Auditor's Office, 2,321 ballots were mailed to Davenport School District voters. 567 were sent in Harrington, while 1,277 were sent to Lincoln County voters in the Reardan-Edwall District and 857 were sent to county voters in Odessa.
Senior citizens and disabled persons may be eligible for tax exemptions on the levies. More information is available at the county Assessor's Office.
Ballots must be postmarked or dropped off in a voting box by 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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