Spokane County schools ask for more tax dollars after measures failed in February

(The Center Square) – The primary election was only last month, but a few school districts in Spokane County are already looking ahead to the Nov. 5 general election, hoping they can pass bonds that failed in February.

CHENEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

The first request comes from the Cheney School District, which serves over 5,500 students. CSD is asking voters to approve a $72 million bond, which it intends to pay back over 21 years. The request requires a minimum voter turnout of 40% with an approval threshold of 60%.

The funding would go toward constructing a new elementary school in Airway Heights, district-wide health and facility upgrades and land acquisitions. The caveat is that CSD did not include a rate at which voters will repay the $72 million, only the 21-year timeframe.

Cheney’s request follows a failed attempt from February to pass the same $72 million bond.

DEER PARK SCHOOL DISTRICT

The second ask comes from the Deer Park School District, which serves around 2,500 students. DPSD is asking voters to approve a $55.1 million bond, which it intends to repay over 27 years. The request requires a minimum voter turnout of 40% with an approval threshold of 60%.

If approved, DPSD would use the funding to construct another elementary school and transportation facility, though, similar to CSD, it would do so without an established rate.

DPSD also failed to garner enough support last February to pass its then-proposed $62 million bond.

WEST VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

The third request comes from West Valley School District, which serves roughly 3,400 students. WVSD is asking voters to approve a levy dedicated to safety, security and infrastructure improvements, replacing its expiring capital levy, which voters approved in 2021.

If approved, voters would pay $1 per every $1,000 of assessed property value for the next three years, during which WVSD will identify and plan specific projects for each. The rate is over 20% less than the current one set at $1.26 per $1,000 assessed value.

Like Cheney and Deer Park, WVSD failed to garner enough support in February to pass its then-proposed $92 million bond. If voters approve this levy, which only needs a simple majority to pass, it will generate around $11.7 million over the next three years.

“We heard the community ask for a scaled back project list with a lower price than the bond ask,” district officials wrote on WVSD’s website . “This is about $31 per month or $370 per year on a house with the median assessed value of $370,000.”

ORCHARD PRAIRIE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Orchard Prairie is the last school district in Spokane County that’s asking voters to approve a tax measure, a $6.2 million bond. The district, which serves around 75 students up to seventh grade, intends to use the funding to build a new school.

Like other bonds, the measure requires a supermajority of 60% approval and at least 40% voter turnout. OPSD did not include an established levy rate in its ballot resolution .

However, unlike the other requests, OPSD did not have a failed tax measure earlier this year. It's most-recent levy passed with a supermajority in April 2023.