Levies dot the Lincoln County ballot

LINCOLN COUNTY – School levies in Reardan, Sprague and Odessa are on the ballot for the Feb. 9 special election here, as is a levy for Lincoln County Hospital District No. 1. Ballots were mailed in the entirely vote-by-mail Lincoln County Jan. 20, and must be postmarked by Feb. 9.

Reardan-Edwall School District seeks three-year replacement levy

By Drew Lawson

The Times

Reardan – The school district is looking to pass a three-year replacement levy for collection in 2022, 2023 and 2024 of $2.00 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The rate is a projected decrease from the $2.08 rate per $1,000 property value district residents paid in 2020.

A homeowner with property valued at $100,000, therefore, would pay a tax in the $200 range.

A previous levy passed on 2017 expired at the end of 2020.

Collected amounts would be $1,300,112 in 2022, $1,358,617 in 2023 and $1,419,755 in 2024.

The district collected $1,300,462 in 2020 for 2021, so the first year of collection would actually be a slight decrease from 2020 before increasing again in 2022 and 2023.

The previous levy accounted for 13% of the district’s overall operating budget last year. It funds staff positions like school nurses, counselors and psychologists. Also funded are athletics, after-school clubs and activities.

Many extra-curricular activities haven’t been operating since March 2020, but that is beginning to change. Athletics are expected to begin fall sports practices Feb. 10, and school is slowly re-opening, with more and more students arriving to in-person learning each month.

Voters to decide on Sprague levy

By Katie Teachout

The Ritzville-Adams County Journal

Sprague – Voters will be deciding whether or not to approve a two-year educational and operational levy for the Sprague School District.

The levy would replace an expiring two-year levy approved in 2019, and the rate will not be increasing.

The levy amount for the collection years 2022-23 would be $1.68 per $1,000 of assessed property values, for a total of $195,000 each year.

For homes with an assessed value of $75,000, the tax would amount to $126 per year; and for homes assessed at $150,000, the tax would equal $252 per year.

The levy would fund programs at the school outside of state-defined basic education funding, including preschool for three and four year olds, and extracurricular activities such as athletics, music and FFA.

Levy funds also support transportation costs for extracurricular activities, staff stipends for extracurricular commitments, and maintenance and operation costs outside of basic education funding.

Asked if there were funds left over, since extracurricular activities have been shut down since last March, Ressel replied there were.

"But I think as we start opening up, those funds are going to be eaten up pretty quickly," Ressel said.

As a school district within the Lind-Ritzville athletic compound, Ressel said transportation costs run high.

“We do pay 20%, for all athletics with Lind and Ritzville, as far as cost of coaches and uniforms and all that,” Ressel said.

The compound includes Lind, Ritzville, Washtucna, Kahlotus and Sprague.

Ressel said a good portion of the Sprague levy funds were also spent on their preschool program.

Three ballot measures impact Odessa

By Terrie Schmidt-Crosby

The Odessa Record

Odessa – The Educational Programs and Operations levy requested by the Odessa School District will cost taxpayers $2.04 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The levy funds programs outside of the state-defined basic education funding formula, including middle/high school athletics and activities, transportation outside of the basic school day, preschool programs and co-curricular activities. It also supports programs not adequately funded by the state, such as classified staffing, nutrition services, technology, curriculum and instructional materials, teachers, counselors and nurses.

The school’s Capital Projects levy will cost 37 cents per each $1,000 in assessed property value. This levy has been used in the past to replace sections of sidewalk, upgrade lighting, plumbing and HVAC operations, improve district security, upgrade the fire alarm system, replace flooring in many parts of the school and replace sections of the roof.

Voters are also being asked to pass a tax levy at the estimated levy rate of $2.38 per $1,000 of assessed value upon all taxable property in the District. This levy is the same as last year and will help keep services running at Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center in 2022. The levy is necessary due to continued reductions in reimbursement by Medicaid and many other commercial payers. The funds generated by the levy help the district pay part of the approximately $10 million in costs associated with operating and maintaining the facility.