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Mike Wirt knew the vote to fund three capital facility projects on Tuesday would be close – he was just hoping the final margin would go in favor of the Spokane County Library District.
With the majority of the ballots in on Tuesday evening, SCLD had failed to garner the necessary support to establish a Library Capital Facilities Area and fallen short in a bond vote that would have generated $33.4 million for a new Spokane Valley Library, improvements to the Argonne branch as well as a new library in the Greenacres/Veradale area.
Tuesday’s count had just over 51-percent voting against the LCFA, with roughly 49 percent in favor. The initiative needed a simple majority, or any margin over 50 percent to win. The bond, which required a supermajority of at least 60 percent, earned just under 45 percent of the vote.
“We’re pretty disappointed,” said Wirt, SCLD’s executive director. “I think it was a matter of a lot of other items on this ballot and upcoming ballots and people prioritizing where they want to spend their money.”
In the East Valley School District, voters failed to pass a $33 million bond that would have funded improvements at East Valley Middle School, Otis Orchards Elementary and Mountain View Middle School along with infrastructure upgrades at each of the district’s elementary schools. The bond would have also included $22.7 million in state matching funds.
Needing a supermajority for approval, the initiative received just over 54 percent of the vote, with approximately 46 percent in dissent. Judi Christiansen, EVSD spokeswoman, said there is still some misunderstanding about last year’s passage of EHJR 4204 – a legislative resolution which stipulates that levies, not bond, can pass with a simple majority.
“I think people need to be cognizant that bonds are for capital facility improvements and they need 60 percent,” Christiansen said.
In the other ballot issue affecting Spokane Valley residents, 63 percent of voters approved an existing one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax for juvenile detention facilities and jails. The tax is expected to raise about $8 million over the next seven years and fund staff and equipment as well as renovations to Geiger Corrections Center and Martin Hall.
Results of the library vote are expected to have an impact on the future of the much-discussed Spokane Valley city center. Consultants on the project have widely agreed that a new Valley Library should be an integral part of such a design. Last December, SCLD announced that it had agreed in principle to purchase 3.5 acres of land in the University City area as the site of a new library. The U-City location has been frequently mentioned as the potential home of a city center.
“I would hope the voters would support a library in the future,” said Spokane Valley City Council Member Bill Gothmann. “I think the library will be a key part of our future city center.”
Wirt said the library board would discuss the possibility of another vote at its next meeting on March 18, though he said he “would be surprised if the board put it on the ballot again in May.”
The bond would have added approximately 25 cents to each $1,000 of assessed property value beginning in 2009 and span a total of 20 years. The tax would have meant an increase of around $50 each year for a home valued at $200,000.
Payment on EVSD’s last bond – passed in 1996 – concludes this year, meaning residents would have not seen an increase in property taxes if the latest vote had passed. In 2007, residents paid $1.40 on every $1,000 to support schools.
Christiansen said there is a chance that the East Valley school board could vote to place the bond on the ballot in May or August.
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By
Craig Howard
