PORT ANGELES — The School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to place a two-year maintenance and operations levy on the ballot in May.
But unlike the last levy election which ended on Feb. 8 with the defeat of two measures — a four-year maintenance and operations levy and a less expensive capital technology levy — the next ballot will carry only a maintenance and operations, or M&O, levy request.
Just like the last M&O levy bid, the next one will have to win at least 60 percent voter approval to pass.
If it fails, it will be the last chance for the district to seek a levy in 2005 to fill the gap between state and federal funding and actual expenses, which run about 18 percent in the Port Angeles School District.
District officials say that without the levy, about $6 million will have to be cut from the 2006 budget.
The all-mail election will be held May 17, with initial ballots mailed to voters April 27, the School Board decided during Tuesday night’s special meeting at district headquarters.
The board also chose to run the next M&O levy with a rate of $2.98 per $1,000 of assessed valuation — a 10 cent increase over the current two-year M&O levy that is due to expire this year.
District in ‘survival mode’
“I think we are in a survival mode,” said School Board member Jessica Schreiber.
“We need to make it very clear that we have an M&O levy [on the ballot] only and not the technology levy.”
School Board member Jeff Hinds agreed.
“We know we have to pass the M&O levy,” Hinds said.
“This will give the levy’s campaigners the ability to focus on only one issue very strongly.”
Board members also agreed that they have to do a better job of explaining the ballot proposal to voters.
In the Feb. 8 election, the M&O levy garnered 55.9 percent of yes votes, while the four-year $3.6 million technology levy, which proposed a 40-cent tax rate per $1,000 of assessed valuation, received only 51.6 percent approval.
The proposed M&O levy will seek the same rate — $2.98 per $1,000 of assessed valuation — as the one that failed, but it would be for two years instead of four.
