Two Replacement Levies on Nov. 4, 2025 ballot

The Educational Programs and Operations Replacement Levy renews funding for educational programs so all Renton School District students have equitable opportunities to succeed in school. This Replacement Levy will renew the expiring levy voters approved in 2022. This levy continues funding for 4 years through 2030.

What is a local levy? 

Public school districts receive funding from three main sources: federal, state, and local.

• Federal funding (which makes up about 12% of our district budget) comes to school districts through a series of targeted grants, like Title I, which supports schools serving low-income communities, or funds that support special education services.
• State funding (which is the majority of our district funding) is generally provided based on the number students in our district.
• Local funding (which makes up about 14% of our annual budget) is provided only if voters reapprove local levy ballot measures every four years. These voter-approved measures replace the expiring levy; so they are not a new tax.

What does the levy pay for? 

This measure pays for school and student needs not fully funded by the state. This local levy makes up more than 14 percent of our district's annual revenue for basic education programs, including middle and high school athletics/activities, class size reduction, transportation, summer school and after school enrichment activities, elementary music and art programs, curriculum, food service, safety, school counseling, social emotional supports, and administrative support. The measures allow the district to continue important levy-supported programs and jobs through 2030.

• 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 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 

  • Student Safety: The state funds less than 3 school safety staff for our entire district. This levy funds nearly 6 additional school safety staff.

  • Custodians: State funds only  nurses for our entire district. This levy funds additional 22 custodians who help keep our schools clean and operational.

  • Mental Health Professionals, Counselors, & Psychologists: this levy funds additional 9 counselors and social workers, and 17 psychologists to support student mental health.

• 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. Read more in the "Cost to taxpayers" tab below.

Even with approval of both measures on the November 4 ballot, district total combined tax rates are projected to remain low with very little change or continue to decrease through the life of these ballot measures. The combined local district tax rate is estimated to remain at or below $3.42 per $1,000 of assessed value. As these measures are for a set amount, even if property value increases tax rates for these measures remains the same.

Below is a breakdown of the yearly tax collection of Education Programs and Operations measure. These figures are included in the district's combined local tax rate presented above.

 

The Technology/Capital Projects Replacement Levy will continue to provide students and teachers with high-functioning 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 2030.

Having good schools and facilities has a positive effect on our neighborhoods. Well-maintained 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 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

The Capital Projects portion of this replacement levy related to maintaining schools and continues to provide:

• Equal access, similar experience: Students will have the similar opportunities 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.
  • Maintain/Refurbish/Repair school facilities
  • Educational, athletic, and infrastructure maintenance and improvements
  • Health of students and staff in schools; Safety & Security
  • Energy efficiency

Why is the Capital portion of this Measure important for Renton Schools?

• We know that keeping our schools in good operating condition today, means less funding for 
• Renton School District has 32 buildings (25 schools) totaling nearly 2.7 square feet and over 385 acres of grounds
• Our school building ages are between 2 and 68 years old
• Capital levy maintenance funding provides for maintaining what exists, but not replacing existing systems as they fail (we use school construction bond measure to do more of that work)
• Most building systems and exterior infrastructure have a lifespan of 20-40 years
• Replacing aging systems is much less expensive to do before they fail
• New building and land-use, along with energy codes, continue to push higher costs for system replacements and facility updates

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. Read more in the "Cost to taxpayers" tab below.

Even with approval of both measures on the November 4 ballot, district total combined tax rates are projected to remain low with very little change or continue to decrease through the life of these ballot measures. The combined local district tax rate is estimated to remain at or below $3.42 per $1,000 of assessed value. As these measures are for a set amount, even if property value increases tax rates for these measures remains the same.

Below is a breakdown of the yearly tax collection of Technology and Capital Projects measure. These figures are included in the district's combined local tax rate presented above.

 

These levies are not a new tax. They renew expiring levies that provide local funding for critical needs not covered by state and federal funding. Our current levies expire in 2026. Voter approval will continue this important funding through 2030.

Since 2016, our combined local tax rate dropped 36%, from $5.35 to our current rate of $3.41 per thousand of property assessed value. The drop is primarily due to continued 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 Nov. 4 ballot, district tax-rates are projected to continue to decrease. The tax rate is projected to be $3.39 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 isn't impossible 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 $3.41 per $1,000 of your personal assessed property value is the rate you will pay through the four years of the two levies.

Example of Savings

Our tax rates have decreased since 2016 from $5.35 in 2016 to $3.41 in 2025.

Even with approval of both measures on the November 4 ballot, district tax rates are projected to remain low with very little change or continue to decrease through the life of these ballot measures. The combined local district tax rate is estimated to be at or below $3.40 per $1,000 of assessed value. As these measures are for a set amount, even if property value increases tax rates for these measures remains the same.

An example of savings as district tax rates have decreased over the years. This is for a home valued today at $750,000.

• IF you were still paying the same tax rate as back in 2016 ($5.35), your current district taxes would be $4,012/year.
• BUT, because our district tax rate today (2025) is only $3.41, your actual taxes are $2,557/year.
• A savings of $1,455!

Breakdown of our projected combined tax rate as presented on the November 4, 2025 ballot:

• Education Programs & Operations Levy: $1.06
• Technology/Capital Projects Levy: $0.72
• School construction bonds: $1.61 (not on ballot)
• Total district combined levy rate: $3.39 (remains steady or continues to decline thru 2030)

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.

The District asks voters to approve local levies for a fixed dollar amount. It does not increase from the ballot approved measure during the levy collection.

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.

School districts across Washington are funded through federal, state, and local dollars.

Local funding must be approved by voters every four years and allows citizens throughout the district to continue to fund important education resources for local schools. These measures pay for critical needs not fully funded by the state, including staff positions (teachers, instructional assistants, nurses and social workers), extracurricular activities, extended school days/year, additional course offerings, activities associated with early learning, staff connected to these activities, and 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 more than a $58 million gap every year.

Funding from these voter-approved replacement levies stays right here in the Renton School District for the use of our students and schools. These levies replace current levies that expire at the end of 2026 and extend the support through 2030.

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.

Renton School District sought 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 November 4, 2025 election. Those interested sent their name, address, phone number and which position they represent to community.relations@rentonschools.us by June 20. The Board took action on the appointments at its July 25, 2025 regular board meeting.