PORT TOWNSEND — The passage of a four-year levy will give the Port Townsend School District reliable funding to keep present programs in place, said Superintendent David Engle the day after the first count of Tuesday’s special election ballots.
“What happens now is we celebrate for a day or two and then get back to the budgeting process for next year,” Engle said Wednesday.
“It gives us predictability about the future and allows us to budget.”
Engle said the property tax levy revenue will not lead to the creation of new programs.
Instead, it will support those already in place, funding educational programs and providing support for extracurricular activities and maintenance of facilities.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the replacement maintenance-and-operations levy.
The initial count Tuesday found 3,947 votes, or 70.82 percent, in favor of the levy, with 1,626 votes, or 29.18 percent, opposed.
As a school levy, the measure needed a simple majority to pass.
The estimated rate for 2016 is $1.58 per $1,000 of assessed valuation; $1.60 per $1,000 in 2017; $1.63 per $1,000 in 2018; and $1.66 per $1,000 in 2019.
The rate for the current levy, which will expire this year, is $1.56 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Rose Ann Carroll, Jefferson County auditor, said her office received another 882 ballots for special elections throughout the county Wednesday.
The next count is scheduled to occur by noon Friday.
Engle said the school levy was connected to the city of Port Townsend’s $3.6 million bond measure to repair Mountain View Commons, which is leased from the school district.
The bond measure passed by a similar margin to that of the school levy.
“I was glad to see both pass,” Engle said.
“People connected the dots and saw that the bond supports the schools, and the development of a long-term lease with the city is a good use of taxpayer investment.”
The replacement levy is a necessary part of school financing, according to Port Townsend School District board member Jennifer James-Wilson.
“The school levy in the state of Washington is part of the standard operating procedure for school districts,” she said in November.
“It provides about 25 percent of our budget, and the reason that voters should approve it is because it’s part of our basic funding.”
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office on Tuesday counted 9,738 ballots out of 20,135 mailed to registered voters in all races for a total election night turnout of 48.36 percent.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.