I am writing this letter to help you, as part of our community, make an informed decision on the upcoming vote for a school district levy. The bottom line in this complicated issue is this: For taxpayers, approving this school district levy will mean paying a lower total property tax than was paid in 2018.

Let me explain. Due to recent state legislation capping the dollar size of school district levies, it was necessary to approve two smaller levies to approach the dollar value of the previously approved four-year levy ($4.01 per thousand dollars of property valuation). Last August’s approval of a capital levy (for $1.50 per thousand) was the first step in this increasingly complex process. Approval of the operations-and-maintenance levy currently under consideration (for $1.50 per thousand) is the second step in the school funding process. It should be noted that approval of this second levy will still leave the Grand Coulee Dam School District short of the dollar value of the previously approved levy. That’s not good news for our school district. It means that the school district will begin the 2019/20 school year in financial deficit unless the state takes action to remedy this shortfall. This shortfall represents a critical, state-wide unfunded requirement that the State Legislature needs to address immediately.

The election date set for vote on this operations-and-maintenance levy is Feb. 12. Ballots will be mailed as early as next week. Please, carefully consider your decision on this critically important levy and cast your vote.

Rich Black