Community News 01/30/09
Funding issues dominate Feb. 3 sample ballot
By Mike Huffman
Spokane Valley News Editor

Money is the name of the game of the Feb. 3 special election.
While school district requests will dominate the election – most voters should have already received their mail-in ballots – the Spokane Valley Fire Department also has a levy request.

So, depending on where you live, voters will be asked to respond to any of the following:

• Central Valley School District replacement programs and operations levy. Voters who live in the CV district are being asked to continue an existing levy for the next three years. In 2009-10, that amount will be $3.27 per $1,000 assessed valuation (to raise $23,850,000. While the amount levied won’t change in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years, the amount raised is expected to rise to $25.5 million and $27.3 million, respectively, due to increased property value.
• East Valley School District replacement levy. EVSD is asking for $3.15 per $1,000 assessed valuation for three years, which also replaces an expiring levy. Amounts expected to be raised are $8.5 million in 2009-10, $9.2 million in 2010-11 and $9.8 million in 2011-12.
• East Valley School District construction bond request. Separate from the maintenance-and-operations levy, if voters approve this $34.5 million bond sale, the money will be used to upgrade and modernize East Farms, Skyview, Trentwood, Otis Orchards and Trent Elementary schools. Also, improvements would be made to Mountain View and East Valley middle schools. Computers and other technology would also be upgraded across the district.
• Freeman School District levy request. This replacement M&O levy would be $2.60 for $1,000 assessed valuation. It’s expected to raise between $1.3 million and $1.5 million over its three-year span.
• Orchard Prairie three-year M&O levy. The small Orchard Prairie School District, located north of Spokane Valley, is asking for levy amounts of $1.19 and $1.25, respectively, of $1,000 of assessed valuation to be collected over the next two years.
• West Valley School District M&O levy. West Valley school would receive $3.89 in 2010, $3.84 in 2011 and $3.79 in 2010 per $1,000 assessed valuation for maintenance-and-operations purposes. Again, as a replacement levy, the funding would generally fall to the range of $7.3 million to $7.7 million each year.
• West Valley School District technology levy. This proposition would equip classrooms with upgraded computers and other technology and raise about $500,000 per year. Amounts of 27 cents, 26 cents and 25 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation would be levied over the next three years.
• Spokane Valley Fire Department M&O levy. This replacement levy would collect $1.59 per $1,000 assessed valuation over the next three years. It would raise between $15.8 and $16.4 million each year.

Ballots should be mailed and postmarked by Feb. 3. They can also be dropped off at local libraries. Or, on Tuesday only, they can be dropped off at CenterPlace, 2426 N. Discovery Place, between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.