2024 Levies: Essential Insights and Unanswered Questions
Voters in the Tahoma School District have less than 10 days to turn in their ballots and either accept or reject two replacement levies. The levies serve to fill claimed funding gaps between state + federal funds and the actual cost of running our district.
PROP 1: 2-Year Replacement Educational Programs & Operations Levy (EP&O)
This levy helps fund many of the District’s academic programs, extracurricular activities, employee wages, and operations costs. More information on these specifics can be found here: https://www.tahomasd.us/our_district/2024_levy_renewals.
This levy has been set up for enrichment activities outside of basic education in the district per Engrossed House Bill 2242 under RCW 28A.150.276.
In 2020, Tahoma voters passed the EP&O levy at a rate of $2.00 per $1,000 of assessed value. This current replacement levy has been increased to $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed value (the maximum allowable amount). For a $700,000 house, this increases the current property tax by $350 per year for two years. If this levy is rejected, property tax on that same house would decrease from the current rate by $1400 per year for two years.
PROP 2: 2-Year Replacement Technology Capital Projects Levy
This levy helps fund technology devices and infrastructure, and it also provides funding for the staff who lead technology use in Tahoma Schools.
This replacement levy will be roughly the same amount that was on the ballot in 2020: ~$0.40 per $1,000 of assessed value. For a $700,000 house, the resident would continue to pay $280 per year for two years. If this levy is rejected, property tax on that same house would decrease by $280 per year.
Unanswered Questions
The Tahoma Parents team has sent in a list of questions that have gone unanswered by district officials:
Why have we brought Lori Cloud back as our interim superintendent when her fiscal dishonesty and irresponsibility is widely known?
Did you know that in the 2022-2023 school year, Lori Cloud was the third highest paid school employee in the state? Another Tahoma employee, Dawn Wakeley, was seventh on the list. They are the only two in the top 10+ positions that were not Superintendents. And why was Dawn Wakeley’s salary increased by $180,000 in just one year?
If we weren’t paying out severance to superintendents (Giurado and Hanson), a principal (Thomas), a teacher (Hanson), and at least one other employee (Marla McAlpine), would we need to ask the maximum allowable amount of $2.50/$1,000 for the EP&O levy? Where is that payout money coming from?
The District seems very confident in its belief that taxpayers will continue to fund it comfortably enough to pay out significant sums for the early departures of at least 5 employees in recent years (we are investigating potentially more).
According to the District’s Levy page, “The EP&O Levy partially funds every teacher’s salary…” Are there activities outside of basic education that all teachers are participating in as the law requires? In our research, we have not been able to rectify this.
One question we have heard repeatedly is: If these levies do not pass, isn’t this taking money away from our kids?
To that, we say: Isn’t the District already taking money away from our kids by paying out so many contracts? Certainly, the buck stops at the District level and taxpayers are not to blame for withholding money from students or cheating them in some way. To many, it seems as though we’re throwing money at a bleeding wound instead of simply applying pressure to stop the bleeding.
Whether you are for or against these replacement levies, we highly encourage everyone to participate in the voting process and turn in your ballots by February 13th.
