PORT ANGELES — Voters in the Quillayute Valley School District will be asked to decide on a four-year, $6 million levy that will be on the Feb. 11 special election ballot.
It would replace QVSD’s current levy that expires at the end of the year.
The replacement levy would raise $1.51 million annually through 2029. The estimated tax rate would be $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2026; $1.40 in 2027; $1.26 in 2028 and $1.13 in 2029.
Choosing the $1.50 rate was strategic, QVSD Superintendent Diana Reaume said, because it will enable the district to obtain state Local Effort Assistance funding, which supplements what property-poor districts like QVSD can raise locally.
In order to qualify for LEA funding, a property-poor district must have a collection rate of $1.50. Because QVSD’s levy rate has fallen to 81 cents per $1,000, it has been losing out on about $2.5 million in LEA funding annually, Reaume said.
“By levying $1.5 million from our taxpayers, we get about $5.7 million additional LEA dollars a year,” Reaume said. “That equals $20.5 million in LEA funding over the next four years.”
That’s 3½ times the return on taxpayer investment, she said.
Passing the levy also will enable the district to continue collecting timber revenue.
“Every four years, we get about a million in timber dollars, so that’s an additional $4 million on top of the $25.5 million in LEA dollars if we collect at that ($1.50) rate,” she said.
Maximizing state funding while being mindful of the burden on taxpayers was important to the board when it came to a decision about the levy by keeping the collection amount down as much as possible, Reaume said.
EP&O levies are critical to the district because they support student programs and activities, as well as maintenance projects, the state doesn’t pay for.
“It funds 100 percent of our athletics,” Reaume said. “We don’t want to charge our kids to play.”
The QVSD levy also funds drama and music, laptops and routine building repairs. Coming up are projects to upgrade the phone system, resurface Spartan Field’s track, purchase cardio equipment for the high school and install new rooftop heat pumps at the elementary school.
Twenty-three percent of QVSD staff is funded through its levy.
The levies voters approve also enable the district to share its facilities to local groups at no cost.
“We really believe this is a community-based place where the Little League can play and any of our organizations can have a quilt show or a scholarship auction,” Reaume said. “Our schools are open for them.”
Reaume will speak about the levy Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. at the West End Business Association at the Forks Congregational Church, 280 Spartan Ave., and at noon at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Blakeslee’s Bar & Grill, 1222 S. Forks Ave.
Information about the QVSD replacement levy can be found at tinyurl.com/2r73n6cs.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
