Levies are for Learning

The Levy REPLACES and RENEWS funding for essential services and learning programs:

• Smaller class sizes

• Nurses and medical para-educators

• Classroom para-educators

• Counselors

• Social and emotional learning

• 1:1 Technology devices

• Transportation

• Reading, music, and PE specialists

• Extra-curricular activities and clubs

• Athletics

• Special education services

• Intervention programs

• Mental health support

• Vocational programs

• Intervention services and staffing

• The arts:  band, choir, and drama

• STEM

• School Resource Officer

• Electives

• Utilities, maintenance, and operations

• And more…

The estimated levy tax rate will be $2.50* per $1,000 assessed property value in 2023-2026.

* Note: the total EP&O Levy tax rate will not be higher than $2.50. It may be collected at a lower rate.

In order to fund the school programs and services listed above, the proposed 2022 EP&O levy will be collected over four years (2023-2026). The total collection amount for the proposed 2022 College Place EP&O Levy is $18.9 million collected as follows:

• $4.1 million in 2023

• $4.5 million in 2024

• $4.9 million in 2025

• $5.4 million in 2026

TOTAL = $18.9 million

Student Support: Nurses and medical para-educators, counselors, and social and emotional learning

Academics: smaller class sizes, academic interventions, courses and programs for students in advanced learning programs, and special education

Activities: ASB, leadership, and after school programs

Arts: band, choir, elementary music, and drama

Athletics: Over half of our students participate in some kind of sport

Technology: Due to federal stimulus dollars, CPPS was able to provide each child with a personal technology tool.  Without future levy dollars, the district could not continue to purchase new devices.

Transportation: The levy also backfills what the state does not fund for transportation. In each of the last four years, we have purchased buses to handle our growth and expiring buses at a rate of $150,000 per year.

PLUS...reading, music, math, and PE specialists, transportation, and classified staff

The ballot measure is titled a “replacement” levy because this is not a new tax request. Instead, this measure asks voters to continue the existing EP&O levy they approved by over 60% in 2018.

College Place voters approved the last levy in February 2018. Like many school districts, College Place Public Schools operates the EP&O Levy on a 4-year cycle. Levy elections are held every four years and are necessary to renew the expiring levy. (NOTE:  Educational Programs & Operations Levies, or EP&O levies, were formerly referred to as Maintenance & Operations (M&O) Levies. The law now disallows the use of the term “maintenance.”)

In Washington State, levies require an approval rate of 50% + 1 “yes” vote in order to pass. College Place voters have a long history of supporting local school levies.

In 2018 when the district ran the two separate capital levies (1) Tech & Safety and (2) Transportation, the laws in the state were different.  This made it necessary for the district to add those measures to ensure that our schools received ample funding to support adequate instructional technology, school safety items, and purchase new buses.  Since then, the laws have changed, allowing the district to combine the measure into the single EP&O Levy. By combining the measures into one levy, we are able to lower the overall tax rate per $1,000 to College Place taxpayers and give the district greater flexibility to address student needs.

No. The total collection amount for the proposed 2022 EP&O Levy is $18.9 million which will be collected over four years (2023-2026). The Educational Programs & Operations Levy has a MAXIMUM renewal rate of $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. If the assessed value increases, the amount collected for the levy will not increase. As more homes and businesses are built in the area, the rate each taxpayer will pay is expected to go down.

Here is an example:  If the total collected amount was $2,000 for a levy and there were four homes in the district each valued at $200,000, each homeowner would pay $500.00.  Assuming each home’s property value increases equally, when a fifth home is built valued at $200,000, each homeowner would now pay $400.00.  The addition of new homes and businesses (highly expected and anticipated in College Place) is expected to bring the overall cost down for each individual homeowner.

Revenue received by College Place Public Schools is as follows:

• 7% comes from the federal government

• 81% comes from the state

• 12% comes from our replacement levy

Local Effort Assistance, or LEA, is a state taxpayer equity program intended to level the playing field across the state and reduce the greater tax burden on property owners within school districts. The total value of all taxable property within the school district is called its “assessed value.” The lower the overall assessed property in a school district, the higher the property tax rate.

Local Effort Assistance (LEA) is also referred to as “state match dollars.” Many districts can qualify for additional financial assistance from the State. The school district can only qualify to receive these additional LEA dollars from the State if the levy is approved by voters.