SEQUIM — As he laid out the tax increases that come with the proposed Sequim School District levy, E. Michael McAleer turned to what he called “the elephant in the room.”
“The economy stinks,” he said, and higher property taxes will burden people living on fixed incomes and investments that are, in many cases, worth far less than before the deep downturn.
McAleer, along with Sequim school board members Sarah Bedinger and Virginia O’Neil, gave a presentation Tuesday afternoon at the Sequim Library on the levy, which Sequim area voters will consider in the all-mail Feb. 9 election. Ballots are to be mailed to registered voters in the Sequim School District Jan. 22.
And along with Bedinger and O’Neil — like him members of the advocacy group Citizens for Sequim Schools — McAleer answered questions from several skeptics.
First he outlined the numbers. The proposed levy, a replacement of the current one to expire at the end of this year, would run from 2011 through 2013.
If the voters approve it, they will authorize Clallam County to collect fixed amounts of property tax each year: a total of $4.05 million next year, $4.9 million in 2012 and $5.78 million in 2013.
The levy proposal also includes tax rates: 98 cents per $1,000 in assessed valuation next year, or $245 per year for the owner of a $250,000 home.
The 2010 levy rate, meanwhile, is 77 cents per thousand, or $192.50 on the $250,000 house.
McAleer noted that, rather than imposing an entirely new tax, the proposed replacement levy would mean an increase of $52.50 over that homeowner’s 2010 property tax bill.
While the levy amount — $4.05 million in 2011, for example — would stay fixed, the tax rate is likely to fluctuate along with property values.
This was illustrated by the fact, McAleer said, that 2009’s levy rate was 72.1 cents per thousand.
Rate in 2010
The 2010 rate is 77 cents because property values have dipped, according to Clallam County Assessor Pam Rushton.
The proposed three-year levy, at the same time, increases the total amounts to be raised through taxation.
In 2012, to raise the $4.9 million, the tax rate is $1.19 per thousand, or $297.50 for a total Sequim schools levy on the quarter-million-dollar home.
And in 2013, the rate peaks at $1.40, meaning a $350 property tax bill for the Sequim schools for the same house.
Wendy Goldberg, one of about 25 who attended Tuesday’s talk, observed that the levy rate swells by 90 percent in three years.
“I’d like to know how I can increase my income 90 percent in three years,” she said.
McAleer acknowledged that the tax payments would not be minor ones.
But “it’s a matter of priorities,” he said. “It’s our kids’ education we’re talking about.”
Bruce Lindquist reminded McAleer that many are faced with rising health-care costs, and in Sequim, many of those are seniors on fixed incomes.
“Now is the wrong time,” for a higher levy, Lindquist said.
Schools can’t wait
McAleer, Bedinger and O’Neil said that the schools can’t wait for whenever the economy turns around. In 2009 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aka the federal stimulus, did provide some funding to the Sequim School District, to rescue it from deep cuts in state support.
But district officials don’t expect any more of those stimulus dollars in coming years. Instead, they hope voters will approve the local levy, which is designed to replace the lost state and federal funding.
All of Sequim’s levy rates, current and proposed, are below the average in other school districts across Washington state, McAleer said.
Nearly all of the districts have local levies, with the average rate at $1.78 per thousand.
Next McAleer, Bedinger and O’Neil listed programs and positions the levy would fund if voters.
Chief among them are teaching positions, “to lower class size,” according to the fact sheet on the district’s Web site, www.Sequim.k12.wa.us.
Goldberg asked for the current average class size, and O’Neil said it is often as many as 40 — and higher in physical education classes.
“That is too large,” Goldberg said.
But Bedinger added that the levy funding won’t mean a significant reduction in class size. It would enable the district to keep the teachers it has, so classes don’t grow even more crowded.
While certified teachers’ salaries are the largest share by far — 58 percent — paid with levy dollars, the tax also funds curriculum, technology, facilities maintenance, support staff and extracurricular activities.
“This isn’t fluff,” McAleer said.
Bedinger added that the entire school district has about 1,000 computers for its 175 teachers, 10 administrators and nearly 2,900 students –and one computer maintenance technician on staff.
And with the state’s funding cuts and no new federal money expected, the local levy has to “backfill,” O’Neil said. The levy dollars won’t necessarily mean new programs or jobs.
Greg Madsen, a former schoolteacher who lives in Blyn, posed a question about administrative positions and pay.
With 10 administrators — principals, assistant principals on five campuses plus the superintendent — Sequim is among the leanest in the state, said Superintendent Bill Bentley, who was seated at the back of the room.
Bedinger added that she didn’t want to start discussing salaries, since they’re a matter of contract negotiations she’s not privy to.
Pay cuts
But Brian Lewis, the school district’s business manager, spoke up. Every employee in the district took a pay cut this year, he said. For some it was a one-day cut, while others saw two- five- or 30-day reductions.
Kristin Glenn, the secretary for Citizens for Sequim Schools, pointed out that one key group was missing from Tuesday’s discussion: children.
“Our students desperately want to learn,” said Glenn, adding she believes Sequim’s teachers and administrators are as dedicated to learning as the students.
Then Goldberg, who’d had her hand up for a while, was finally called on again.
Her question was on how she might volunteer in a Sequim school.
To join the more than 400 volunteers on the five campuses, phone the district office, O’Neil replied. The office can be reached at 360-582-3260.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.