On November 30, 2018, we met with the Superintendent of the Evergreen School District and his COO (Chief Operating Officer). They allowed us to record the meeting. Since the file is ~100mb in size it’s too large to share. However, it is on record in case any verification of facts and comments is needed.
Our meeting lasted for a little over an hour. We found the Superintendent and his COO to be open and frank. We got no sense that they were pulling punches or hiding anything. We focused on the reasons around why they are requesting the addition of a “tech” levy ($.37/$1000 of assessed value) in addition to the Maintenance & Operations (M&O) levy ($1.50/$1000 of assessed value). In case you don’t remember or aren’t aware the Washington State Legislature radically changed the funding of schools in the Spring of 2018. They increased the State School Property tax from about $1.98/$1000 of assessed value to $2.89/$1000. They also capped the M&O levy at $1.50/$1000 but allowed districts to add new levy’s for specific uses. Evergreen is following the trend of asking for a levy for “tech” (computers, software and other electronic hardware and support funds). So the “REAL” levy total is $1.87/$1000 when you combine the two.
Following are the topics we discussed and the answers. Please note that we sent the notes back to the district and asked them to correct or clarify (which they did) so these notes should be accurate.
Should you vote for the levy’s? You can vote yes for one and no for the other or no for both. It’s your choice to decide whether the money is needed, will be well spent and is appropriate. Please note that the State Superintendent of Schools (Chris Reykdal) is asking the Legislature to raise the $1.50/$1000 to ~$2.31/$1000 PLUS he wants a new $1 billion capital gains tax for OSPI (Officer of Superintendent of Public Instruction – Chris Reykdal) to spend.
Questions for Evergreen Super – Nov 30, 2018 – The session was recorded (1hr 15min)
1) Why have you chosen to add a “Tech” levy on top of your M&O levy?
Response: To replace the money previously taken out of the M&O levy that is no longer available due to the new $1.50/$1000 cap imposed by the legislature. There are financial commitments for tech leases (which are 3 year) that may not be met unless there is funding.
2) Do you contemplate other levies? For instance: Sports Levy or Health Levy or Safety Levy or others?
Response: Not at this time. There is a limitation of the bond/levy options: Capital renewal (which Teach falls under); Maintenance & Operations (now = Enrichment); Transportation and Bonds (= buildings and infrastructure)
3) How much levy money will be lost in 2019 from the legislature change?
Response: The 2019 voter approved levy was $54,097,000. The actual collection in 2019 will be $27,178,643 resulting in a loss of levy funds of $26,918,357. Additionally, Evergreen receives Levy Equalization funds, which will also be reduced. In 2019 Evergreen expects to receive approximately $11,700,000. Under the old formula this amount would’ve been closer to $18,200,000. This represents a reduction of approximately $6,500,000. Total reduction between the two is $33,418,357.
4) How much more money is Evergreen getting from the State under the levy changes?
Response: I think the best way to answer this is to take the OSPI estimates they used over the summer since it is too early in the current year to give exact figures. With that in mind, here are the additional numbers by program:
State Apportionment Including K-3, excluding CCTE $32,448,392
CCTE $ 3,961,963
Bilingual $ 792,321
Highly Capable $ 111,325
LAP $ 1,532,438
Special Education $ 5,404,385
Total $44,250,824
I would note that in the district’s view the new dollars that are more discretionary for use would exclude CCTE, Bilingual, Highly Capable, and LAP reducing the total increase to $37,852,777.
5) Again, how much did Evergreen get approved by voters from the capital bond?
Response: $695mm approved by the voters
6) Assuming the district gets approval for the M&O at $1.50/$1000 and the $.37/$1000 Tech levies, how much by year and in total will the district receive?
Response: M&O/Enrichment Levy: 2019/20 = $31.95mm; 2020/21 = $35.3mm; 2021/223 = $38.65mm.
The Tech Levy: 2019/20 = $7.8mm; 2020/21 = $8.6mm; 2021/22 = $9.4mm 2022/23 = $10.2mm; 2023/24 = $11.1mm and 2024/25 = $12mm. Total Tech = $59.1 million. These are all estimates which assume in annual increase in assessed value of 8%
7) Assuming the proposed levies what will the financial condition of the district be in 2018/19; 19/20 and 20/21?
Response: It is expected that even with passage of the levies there will be a need for expenditure reductions without additional support from the Legislature. There is no intent to allow the district’s ending fund balance to drop below the Board Policy of 5% of previous year expenditures.
8) Do you support Chris Reykdal’s effort to:
a) Increase the M&O levy limit from $1.50 to the target $2.31/$1000? (If Yes why?)
b) Raise taxes for education another $1 billion? (If Yes why?)
Response: Evergreen PS has a legislative agenda that does not include this. Evergreen is requesting the state:
- Consider full funding of Special Education costs as part of basic education,
- Provide state coverage of any increases to benefit costs that could be caused by the planned transition to a new state medical insurance system,
- Fully cover the costs of student transportation as it does for a large majority of districts across the state, and
- If there are any changes to levy rules, ensure Evergreen receives the same or more in state levy equalization funding.
b) Raise taxes for education another $1 billion? (If yes why?)
Evergreen is not proposing any specific methods of funding the above requests but feel our legislative platform seeks to come closer to fully funding basic education.
9) What was the increase percentage for teachers in the Evergreen SD?
Response: They had 1 year left on a previous contract which they refused to honor which would have given them a 6% increase in the 2018/19 school year. The outcome of the strike was the addition of another 4.7% for a total 1 year increase of $10.7%. Note: This appears to be the first time a contract was not honored by a union.
10) Why should voters approve your levy requests?
Response: The bottom line is for less local tax rate and for many people local tax dollars, we are going to be able to maintain most if not all of the quality programs we have today that have been successful and are being even being even more successful on an annual basis.
11) What percent of previous M&O levies have actually gone to maintenance?
Response: Editor Note: Our investigation shows about 10%/yr with 90% paying for additional personnel and services
12) Your website says “nearly every other district has run a tech levy” In the 10 districts in SWW can you tell me which have run tech levies?
Response: No details on exactly who. Need to contact each district to find out so the statement may or may not be true.
13) Isn’t the list of tax rates rather than tax dollars disingenuous given that taxes can rise even if rates stay the same (if assessed values increase)?
Response: The school board is concerned about taxes as well as rates
14) What’s to stop a district from running multiple levies for different needs?
Response: Nothing.
15) What if the legislature were to raise the levy limit from $1.50/$1000 to something higher after your new levy is passed?
Response: We would need to go back to the public and ask for approval to raise the limit. If that increase met or exceeded our $1.50 + the $.37 Tech levy then we would consider asking the school board to vacate (stop collecting) the Tech levy.
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