The city’s voters don’t usually require much convincing when it comes to approving school levies but the Seattle City Council passed a resolution this week in support of the February ballot propositions to renew to important sources of school funding.
CHS reported here on yet another ballot hitting District 3 mailboxes for the February special election. The February 8th vote will bring two Seattle schools replacement levies to the ballot for voters to decide on educational funding in the city: the $646.8 million, three-year renewal of the Educational Programs and Operations Levy and the $783 million, six-year renewal of the Building, Technology, and Academics/Athletics Capital Levy.
King County Elections says its dropboxes including Capitol Hill’s Broadway box are open and ballots are now in the mail.
The council resolution brought by Councilmember Andrew Lewis cited “opportunity and academic achievement gaps” and its partnership with the Seattle School Board “that yields meaningful investments in the children and young adults enrolled at SPS” in calling for the levy support.
The educational programs and operational levy includes funding for “day-to-day operations and funds staff such as nurses and custodians” and would continue funding for programs like child nutrition programs, social-emotional health, and special education, while also funding special programs in science, math, and engineering, and career training.
The buildings and capital levy provides the district budget for construction and overhauls, technology projects, and athletic projects including “maintenance, safety upgrades, and small renovations.” This levy would also include $66.5 million in funding to help replace the district’s Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center with a new grandstand facility to be used for “high school athletics, for graduations, and by the community.”
Seattle voters have consistently supported taxes on property owners to support the city’s public schools — even as they continue to expand. In 2018, voters approved a $600 million levy powering expansion of services offered by the district. In 2019, voters said yes to more than $2 billion in funding.
Seattle taxes remain “among nation’s kindest to the rich — and harshest to the poor.” In 2017, the Seattle Times reported Seattle had “the fourth-highest tax burden for a family earning $25,000 per year, but the fourth-lowest for a family earning $150,000 per year” among 51 major U.S. cities.
The school levies would be funded by property taxes. The previous expiring levies cost costing the owner of a Seattle median-price home worth around $670,000 about $1,300 a year.
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