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Measure to fix school levy
collections among the 11th hour achievements of Legislature
Lawmakers took action in
the final days of the 2004 legislative session to provide relief for
school districts that have been forced to rollback levy collections
approved by the voters last year. Senate Bill 6211 was sent to the
governor’s desk after the Senate gave final approval to the measure late
Wednesday.
Many school districts were
forced to roll back levy collections this year because they
inadvertently exceeded the local levy base that is allowed by law. The
base is a function of the amount of state funding schools receive. The
state portion turned out to be lower than expected because of the need
of the Legislature to suspend automatic funding increases called for
under Initiatives 728 and 732.
The state halted the increases earmarked for schools in order to balance
the state’s budget, which faced a $2.7 billion shortfall. Fifth District
Reps. Jay Rodne and
Glenn Anderson said SB 6211 will allow local school
districts to continue collecting the local tax levies they approved with
a 60 percent supermajority over the last two years.
“For Issaquah, this means an additional $2.7 million for our schools
over the next three years,” said Anderson, R-Fall City. “With a large
continuing state budget shortfall, the Legislature and the governor made
a decision to suspend increases in funding that the schools were
counting on. It would be unfair to ask these districts to take a double
hit by rolling back local levy collections that voters have approved.
This situation illustrates one of the idiosyncrasies of the state
funding formula and it’s why I’ll continue to propose major reforms in
the way we pay for education in Washington. We want a system that’s more
predictable and fair to local districts’ needs.”
“The bill we passed is a
fair and reasonable way to restore funding for local school districts,”
said Rodne, R-Snoqualmie. “It allows districts that have already
approved levies to collect them. This is a one-time adjustment to their
local levy base to reflect the fact that they did not receive the amount
of funding from the state that was reasonable to expect. Sometimes the
rules don’t fit the circumstances and this was one of those instances
where the state should not stand in the way of local citizens who are
simply working to meet the needs of their schools.”
SB 6211 recalculates the levy base for schools for the amounts the
school district expected to receive from Initiatives 728 and 732. That
would allow districts to collect levies already approved for calendar
years 2005 through 2007 as if the funding increases called for in the
initiatives had been fully funded by the state.
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For more information, contact:
Bobbi Cussins, Public
Information Officer - (360) 786-7252
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