黑料福利社

West Valley school board members said they were pleased voters approved a levy renewal earlier this month, and discussed a rejected bond measure that would have funded school construction projects.

The West Valley district's聽replacement property tax levy passed with almost 52% support in the Feb. 10 special election, but a $97 million bond proposal for building projects failed. About 50.6% of voters rejected it, while 49.3% were in favor. The bond needed 60% support to pass.

The levy funds instruction and student activities, among other items.

"I'm excited that the levy passed. We need that for a lot of programs," board President Steve Wolcott said at a Tuesday school board meeting. "I'm disappointed that the bond didn't pass, because it's a good project."

The district proposed the bond to expand the middle school and reunite grades 6-8 in one building, renovate Ahtanum and Mountainview elementary schools, install more security cameras across the district and remodel the junior high building for community use. The bond would have received an almost $44 million state match if approved.

Wolcott added that he was most disappointed in the low voter turnout, which was 25%. During the board meeting, he shared data showing that February's special election was the lowest turnout for West Valley in 20 years.聽

"There were 1,935 (fewer) voters than in the 2019 bond vote," he said.

Board member Joel Hede said there weren't as many items on the ballot compared to a November election, so people might have been less interested.

"If you're going to fill out the ballot and there's a lot on it, you're going to fill out every box," he said. "When there's less on the ballot, you may look at it and think, 'Oh, I don't need to put my ballot in, there's nothing that I care about.'"

Wolcott said another reason could be that people feel they're being taxed too much, based on what he's heard.聽

He said the Legislature is discussing tax increases and a proposed "millionaires tax." Yakima city voters turned down a proposition to聽increase property taxes to raise $6 million for the city's general fund in November.聽

"People are taxed a lot, and I think they're weary right now," he said.

An earlier bond for the West Valley high school will be paid off this year. The district said the proposed combined tax rate from the bond and levy would have been less than homeowners' average annual local tax rate from 2020-24 when it was $3.41 per $1,000 of assessed value, according to the district.

Trust discussion

Another issue Wolcott mentioned is trust from West Valley voters. The district's last bond sparked debate over what to do with the excess聽funds.聽

After West Valley replaced Apple Valley and Summitview elementary schools, the district asked voters how it should use the $19 million in surplus funds.聽

Some people thought the surplus should be returned to taxpayers, while others recommended using it for capital projects, expecting costs to increase over time. The board took public input about what to do over several months, and ultimately did both.

"Back then, nothing was done wrong," Wolcott said. "It was just people didn't agree with it."

At Tuesday's board meeting, the board unanimously approved the second reading of the district's new defeasement policy.聽The new policy states surplus bond funds will be returned to taxpayers. The next vote will be on the official adoption of the policy.聽

What board members agreed on during the levy and bond discussion is that more work is needed to engage voters, and more questions need to be asked.

Although West Valley's levy passed, it was by a slimmer margin compared to the other school district levies on the ballot: 3,406 voters approved of the replacement levy, while 3,170 rejected it.

"I think we need to look to our school community, and our larger community, and find out what would get them involved," board member Natalie Shirzad said.

People might be checked out, she added, not just on voting but also on the overall school community, including events and community forums.

Future school board discussions will have to include the possibility of changing the bond through revisions or cutting items, Wolcott said.聽

School board member James Kephart said that he's not in any rush to resubmit the bond for the next election in April.

"I think we'd still be in the same boat," he said.