business backgrounder | education & workforce
Back to School: Levy Reform 101
A simple shift of local levy expenditures to
the state will be anything but easy.
Bobbi Cussins
A change to the way K-12 basic education is funded at the state level is at the
crux of the complex and sometimes divisive local school levy reform debate
in the Legislature. This article takes a look at what levy reform could mean
for school districts and property taxpayers, the role of the state Supreme
Court, and the complex resolution that awaits the 2016 Legislature.
“The issue of levy reform is more
than complicated; it’s terrifying.”
— Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, chair of the
House Appropriations Committee and chief
House budget architect
at a glance
Article VII of the state constitution and chapter
84.52 RCW give school districts the authority
to levy excess local property taxes through
voter approval.
Voter-approved property tax increases can
fund extra school programs above and beyond
the program of K-12 basic education, which is
defined in House Bill 2776 (passed in 2010).
Under the current model, nearly $3 billion
every two years in local levy dollars are
being spent on K-12 basic education, such
as teacher compensation.
The state Supreme Court in its 2012
The fight to add nearly $3 billion more to state K-12 basic education funding
over the last two budget cycles took the Legislature to the brink of a government
shutdown — twice.
Now the really hard work begins as lawmakers start to tinker with local property
tax levies in their attempt to comply with the state Supreme Court mandate
requiring the state to pick up the full tab for the program of basic elementary
education.
Specifically, lawmakers must pass a bill that moves basic education expenditures
— roughly $3 billion currently being paid for with local property tax levies — into
the state’s two-year budget.
Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, chair of the House Appropriations Committee and
key budget architect, spoke candidly about the monumental change: “The issue of
levy reform is more than complicated; it’s terrifying.”
McCleary education funding ruling directed
the Legislature to realign the state budget to
appropriate enough funding to ensure K-12 basic
education is fully funded by the state, ensuring
local levy dollars are used solely for educational
enhancements.
Levy reform proposals in the Legislature would
shift the responsibility of fully funding K-12 basic
education back to the state, freeing up local
levy dollars to be used for educational program
enhancements outside K-12 basic education.
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