In the wake of two replacement levy proposal failures at the ballot box earlier this year, and a subsequent $4.2 million in cuts to the 2023-2024 budget, the Centralia School District will make a third attempt at passing a levy in February.
The Centralia School Board voted unanimously at its regular board meeting on Wednesday to place a proposal for a two-year levy at an estimated rate of $1.15 per $1,000 of assessed property value, for a total of $6.2 million collected in 2025, on the February 2024 ballot.
Superintendent Lisa Grant clarified Wednesday that the total collection value is the primary item voters will vote on, as the rate itself adjusts to property value changes.
“We’re trying to estimate what people will pay based upon the total value we can collect,” Grant said.
The requested amount is lower than the district’s previous two requests of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value, which would have allowed the district to collect no more than $6.7 million in 2024 and no more than $7.6 million in 2025 had they passed.
The levy expiring at the end of the year allows the district to collect an annual total of $4.6 million for 2023.
The levy proposal approved by the school board on Wednesday would allow the district to keep funding the items in its current budget without making more cuts and support programs such as athletics and music that are currently being funded by unsustainable sources, such as the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund and booster clubs, according to Joe Vetter, the Centralia School District’s executive director of fiscal services and operations.
School board members also considered a lower rate of 97 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, which would have just covered the existing budget with inflation adjustments; and a lower rate of $1.10 per $1,000 of assessed value, which would have covered most of what’s included in the $1.15 rate proposal.
“The $1.10 or the $1.15 will allow us to continue to move forward. It’s still pretty conservative,” Grant said.
The main selling point for the $1.15 rate in the eyes of the board members was the fact that, with that higher amount, the district can allocate some funding toward its new green energy career and technical education (CTE) program.
The pilot class for that program, which is intended to help train students for green-energy careers, is currently funded by a Renewable Energy Vehicle and Infrastructure Technician training program grant.
With the millions of state and federal dollars already committed to developing a proposed “hydrogen hub” in Centralia, Centralia School Board members said they felt investing in the green energy CTE program was essential for the district’s growth.
“I think that’s a thing that is so crucial and I think that we have to get that ball rolling,” School Board Vice President Mandi McDougall said of the green energy CTE program on Wednesday.
“We need to get our students on board and I believe we can convince our public that this is a huge opportunity for our possible future,” Board President Tim Browning added of the green energy CTE program.
Board member Deb Parnham also spoke out in favor of the $1.15 rate, saying, “We want to go in certain directions and that will help us get there.”
“We’re not doing as much as we want to do, but this will certainly be better than a lesser amount,” board member Vicki Jackson added.
While board member Maritza Bravo supported the levy and voted in favor of the $1.15 rate, she expressed concern Wednesday about putting another levy proposal on the ballot in February, especially given the failure of the proposed sales tax for Lewis County 911 Communications on the November ballot.
Student representative Makenzi Van Der Hoeff also brought up concerns that impacted voters of the previous ballot measures, saying, “I know a handful of voters I won’t name who didn’t vote last time because they didn't know exactly where the $1.50 was going, the breakdown of that.”
Ahead of the February election, Grant said the Centralia School District will post information on the breakdown of levy funds on its website and social media platforms, and will send fliers with the information to all voters in the district.
“If people aren’t sure, call us, and we will direct them to the right information,” Grant said, adding that the place to get the most information will be the district’s website, https://www.centraliaschooldistrict.org/.
