Two Replacement Levies on Feb. 8, 2022 ballot

The February 8, 2022 levy renews funding for educational programs so all Renton School District students have equitable opportunities to succeed in school. The Educational Programs and Operations Replacement Levy will renew the expiring levy voters approved in 2019. This levy renews the funding for 4 years through 2026.

What does the levy pay for? 

Levy dollars pay for needs not fully funded by the state, including:

• STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES  

  • Academics
  • Arts & Music: band, choir, elementary music, and drama
  • Athletics: Coaches, advisors, equipment, transportation to games
  • Activities: ASB, leadership, and after school programs
  • STEM: (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) programs
  • PLUS...reading, music, math, and PE specialists, transportation, and classified staff

• HIGH-QUALITY INSTRUCTION

  • Support and training for our teachers and instructional assistants to provide students with high-quality instruction.

• ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS

  • The pandemic disrupted students’ lives and education. The levy ensures that our students get academic and social-emotional support to be on track for the next grade level. It funds counselors and social workers who support students’ social-emotional needs.

• HEALTH AND SAFETY 

  • Nurses: State funds only 2 nurses for our entire district. This levy funds additional school nurses. Nurses and medical para-educators, counselors and mental health therapists, social and emotional learning.
  • Student Safety: The state funds only 3 school safety staff for our entire district. This levy funds additional school safety staff.

• SCHOOL BUILDING MAINTENANCE

  • Our custodians & school maintenance teams are working hard to keep classrooms & school areas clean and disinfected. This renewal levy helps to add additional custodian and maintenance workers, and supplies and materials.

• TRANSPORTATION

  • Many of our students take the bus to school. We have more than 90 school bus drivers and a fleet of 116 school buses and 92 support vehicles used daily to safely transport students to school and home again. Renewal of this levy continues to provide school bus transportation for our students.

COST INFORMATION

The levy is not a new tax. It renews an expiring tax that provides local funding for critical needs not covered by state and federal funding. We estimate virtually no change to current tax rates for local taxpayers, maintaining our local combined tax rate at $3.50/per $1,000 of assessed property value or lower. (Read more in the "Cost to taxpayers" tab below.)

Our local levy makes up nearly 14 percent of our current annual revenue. The proposed levy would allow the district to continue our levy-supported programs and jobs through 2026.

The Feb. 8, 2022 election ballot measure 2 is a renewal of our Capital/Technology levy to continue to provide students and teachers with high-quality school buildings and important learning tools and materials. This will renew an expiring voter-approved levy to continue local funding for school building improvements and technology for 4 years through 2026.

Having good schools and facilities has a positive effect on our neighborhoods. Better schools help build a stronger community, which improves our quality of life and helps increase the values of our homes. Funding collected from these local, voter-approved education levies stays right here in our local schools. We use these funds to provide the quality of education that our students and families expect, and to ensure our students have safe, welcoming schools that support student success.

The Capital portion of this replacement levy continues to provide:

• Equal access, same experience: Every student will have the same opportunity to learn in well-functioning, safe and modern spaces.
• Maintenance and mandatory upgrades: Our facilities are valuable community assets and must be maintained to increase their life expectancy, comply with state-mandated upgrades, and continue to improve local assessed value for homes and businesses.
  • Renovate, modernize, and improve school facilities
  • Educational, athletic, and infrastructure improvements
  • Health of students and staff in schools; Safety & Security
  • Energy efficiency

The Technology portion of this replacement levy continues to provide:

Today, technology is integrated into learning and teaching more than ever before. Effective use of digital learning tools in classrooms increases student engagement, helps teachers improve their lesson plans, enhances inclusion and access, and supports personalized learning.

Technology also helps our students build essential 21st-Century skills. Many of today’s high-demand jobs were created in the last decade. As advances in technology drive local, national, and global employment, technology allows teachers to help students acquire the necessary skills to be competitive and succeed in the careers of the future.

• Technology software, infrastructure, training, support staff
• Laptops, computers, tablets for all students and staff
• Adaptive technology to support special education students
• Home access resources like Wi-Fi hotspots
• Increased teacher and student access to technology at school
• Classroom technology
• Educational and office software licenses
• Technicians to support equipment installation and maintenance
• Coaching to support technology into curriculum, instruction, & assessment
• Plus... servers, storage, network switches, firewalls, routers, Wi-Fi, cybersecurity measures, and other infrastructure

These levies are not a new tax. They renew expiring levies that provides local funding for critical needs not covered by state and federal funding. Our current levies expire in 2022.

Since 2016, our combined local tax rate dropped 34%, from $5.35 to $3.48 per thousand of property assessed value. The drop is primarily due to growth in our tax base and tax reform efforts. Saving our homeowners and businesses thousands of dollars in tax costs.

Tax rate projected to remain unchanged or continue to decrease over life of these replacement levies

Even with approval of both measures on the February 8, 2022 ballot, district tax-rates are projected to remain low with very little change. The tax rate is projected to be at or below $3.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. If growth in our district continues, as expected, tax rates can even continue to decline over the life of these replacement levies.

Why we present these figures as tax rates, not actual tax

Because each piece of property within our district boundaries is assessed at different rates, it is impossible in our communications to provide a specific dollar amount of taxes that each property owner pays.  We present property owners with a tax rate to provide the needed information for you to calculate your own personal taxes. Our tax rate of $3.50 per $1,000 of your personal assessed property value is the rate you will pay through the four years of the two levies.

Our tax rates have decreased every year since 2016 by a total of 34%, from $5.35 in 2016 to $3.47 in 2021.

Here’s the breakdown of our current combined tax rate:

• School construction bonds: $1.27
• Capital Levy: $0.48
• Education Programs & Operations Levy (which expires this year with replacement on your Feb. 8 ballot): $1.33
• Technology Levy (which expires this year with replacement on your Feb. 8 ballot): $0.42
• Total combined levy rate: $3.50 (remains steady or continues to decline thru 2026)

Generally, if property values go up, our district’s tax rate is adjusted downward for individual property owners. The school district cannot collect more than the amount approved by voters on the Feb. 8 ballot. Increases in property values do not increase the tax rate paid by individuals.

In fact, as property values and the number of new residents and businesses in our district continue to increase, an individual's total tax payment will decrease, as it has by 34% since 2016.

School Districts are funded through federal, state, and local dollars.

Local funding pays for critical needs not fully funded by the state, including staff positions (teachers, instructional assistants, nurses and social workers); as well as academic support. We rely on local voter-approved levies to bridge the gap between what the state funds and what our students need and provide equal access to opportunities for all students across the district. It's a $40 million gap every year.

Funding from these voter-approved replacement levies stays within Renton School District for the use of our students and schools. These levies replace current levies that expire at the end of 2022 and extend the support through 2026.

Low-income seniors and people with disabilities may qualify for an exemption. To apply for this exemption, call the King County Tax Exemptions Office at 206-296-3920 or visit the King County website.

Levies are for learning. Levies raise funds for educating students and operating schools. When voters approve a levy, they are agreeing to pay taxes to fund these services. Capital levies can also be used to fund important school building improvements.

Bonds are for building. Bonds pay for capital facilities needs. When voters approve a bond measure, it allows the school district to borrow money for facilities improvements. The district issues bonds to raise the money up front. Similar to a home mortgage, the district repays the money (plus interest) in installments over time. Bond dollars can only be used for capital improvements.

The state Legislature increased state property taxes in 2018 with the intent of lowering the local portion of school taxes, not eliminating them. This is step in the right direction, but it is not a perfect solution. Here’s why:

The state money must be spent in very specific ways.  Those restrictions eliminate much of our local control for programs our community wants in schools.

Some districts can ask voters for more money per student than others.  This is not an equitable solution because some districts will generate more funding than others.

The state is not covering the full cost of staff pay and benefits, special education, transportation, teacher training, counselors and social workers, school nurses, and other critical needs.

A portion of the property taxes that used to go directly to local schools now go to the state. The state then redistributes those dollars back to school districts throughout the state. Local districts ask taxpayers for a levy, but for a much smaller amount; and for needed items at your local school.

We continue to ask voters to renew our smaller educational levies. We ask for significantly less money than prior to state funding changes passed in 2017, but levy funding is still critical to pay for important needs not yet fully funded by the state.

School districts are receiving federal COVID relief dollars through the Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief Act (ESSER) to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. These are not ongoing funds. They are one-time funds to cover expenses associated with the pandemic. There are restrictions on how ESSER funds can be spent. For example, the funds cannot be used for salary increases or other ongoing expenses.

Renton School District is seeking applications from citizens interested in being appointed to a committee to write the for/against statements for the King County Local Voters’ Pamphlet related to the District’s Education Programs and Operations Replacement Levy and the Capital/Technology Replacement Levy ballot measures to be considered at the February 8, 2022 election. Those interested should send their name, address, phone number and which position they represent to community.relations@rentonschools.us by October 29, 2021. The Board will take action on the appointments at its November 10, 2021 regular board meeting.

Renton School District is hosting a community webinar to present information about the two important replacement funding levies on the Feb. 8, 2022 election ballot.

The event is Tuesday, Jan. 11, 6-7 p.m., zoom link: https://rentonschools.zoom.us/j/87275127796

Hear a presentation by Renton Schools Superintendent Dr. Damien Pattenaude, along with staff from our technology and budget offices, to share information about Educational Programs and Operations Replacement levy and the Capital/Technology Replacement levy. Neither of these levies is a new tax. Both replace funding previously approved by voters that will expire in 2022. Voter approval will continue these important local school funding measures through 2026.

Even with approval of both measures on the February 8, 2022 ballot, district tax rates are projected to remain low with very little change or continue to decrease as they've done each year since 2016. The combined local tax rate is estimated to be at or below $3.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.