Clark County certified Hockinson’s vote Friday, May 3, with this final tally:
- The Replacement School Programs and Operations Levy passed 52.25% to 47.75%.
- The Capital Levy for Technology and School Improvements failed 50.92% to 49.08%.
“The good news is that, thanks to our community, the replacement School Programs & Operations levy will still help the district bridge the gap between what the state pays and what a Hockinson education costs,” said Superintendent Sandra Yager.
Hockinson’s educational program includes co-curricular and extracurricular activities, which are not funded by the state. Other key educational programming, including special education, essential staff, transportation, professional development and professional salaries are partially funded by the state.
The “replacement” Programs & Operations Levy is actually only a partial replacement, because the levy that expires in 2019 was set at more than $3. However, the Legislature voted in 2017 to limit levies to $1.50 per $1,000 assessed property value, beginning in 2019.
The “no” vote on the capital levy will require some difficult decisions regarding overdue replacements and upgrades of instructional technology and facilities needs
HSD estimates levy rate at $1.50—no change with legislation
The state Legislature passed a bill in the session that ended April 28 enabling school districts to levy up to $2.50 per $1,000 assessed property value. Although some districts recently passed levies that will enable them to take advantage of this change, Hockinson did not.
The $1.50 rate Hockinson voters passed is based on set requested amounts—$2.685 million in 2020, $3.005 million in 2021 and $3.335 million in 2022—and projected growth rates. If growth is stronger than estimated, the levy rate will actually decrease, because the district may not collect more than it requested. If growth is weaker, the rate could increase slightly to bring collections up to the requested amounts.