Vancouver Public Schools hopes low interest rates and high need will persuade voters to support a $458 million bond measure to build new campuses and renovate existing schools in the district.
The district is asking voters to approve the measure on the Feb. 14 special election ballot. Vancouver is one of several districts asking voters to approve funding measures this winter.
District officials say low interest rates for bonds and expected growth in the district — including the $1.5 billion waterfront redevelopment project — make it a prime time to ask voters to approve the bond.
“We have a window of opportunity, and the longer we delay, the more this will cost,” Superintendent Steve Webb said.
Register to Vote
The last day to postmark a voter registration form to vote on Feb. 14 is Tuesday. The deadline was extended a day due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
Online voter registration can be submitted up to 11:59 p.m. Monday. Voters can no longer make changes to a Washington registration in time for this election. Voters who are not registered anywhere in Washington can register in person until 5 p.m. Feb. 6 at the Elections Office at 1408 Franklin St. in Vancouver.
Ballots will be mailed Jan. 27.
To pass, a 60 percent supermajority of voters must approve the bond, and to be a valid election, the bond needs 40 percent of the total number of votes in the last general election. That means at least 27,000 voters must approve the bond.
The district projects that property owners in the district would pay $1.52 per $1,000 in assessed property value if the bond measure passes, which is an increase of 9 cents per thousand dollars over the 2017 tax rate. That works out to an increase of $20 per year on a home valued at $225,000.
After the current bond, which voters approved in 2001, expires in 2021, that bond rate is expected to drop by 17 cents, for a total bond rate of $1.35 per $1,000 assessed value.
A grant and state help would provide another $93 million for construction and upgrades.
The district is promoting the bond as the “smallest rate increase” in recent history.
“This is good math,” Webb said. “The numbers work.”
The district expects it could sell bonds with interest rates of about 3 percent and 21-year repayment periods, Chief Financial Officer Brett Blechschmidt said. He notes, however, that those low rates may not last forever.
“We’re going to move as quickly as we can practically plan,” he said.
Unlike with a levy, school districts ask voters only to approve a total amount over the life of the bond rather than an amount every year, Blechschmidt said. That makes schools districts more able to respond to changes in assessed values and interest rates.
For example, as property values increase, the district can adjust the number of bonds it sells in order to keep bond rates consistent or even lower for taxpayers, Blechschmidt said.
“We’re managing all variables,” he said.
He added that bonds tend to be more expensive toward the ends of their life. Planning, engineering and permitting cost less than construction.
The bond would be used to pay to replace eight full schools, modernize four schools and the Kiggins Bowl, improve 24 campuses and build three new schools — including one in downtown Vancouver, though Webb did not say what locations the district is considering. The average age of the schools that need to be replaced is 58 years, eight years beyond the recommended life span.
“They’re tired schools,” Webb said.
The possible failure of the bond would come at a cost to Vancouver students, Webb said. Currently, 2,000 students are in classrooms in portables or other temporary space, like hallways or cafeterias converted into classrooms, he said. Class-size reduction requirements mean the district will need to add 100 new classes for K-3 students.
“We still have a need for 100 classrooms,” Webb said. “We’ll need to identify more temporary spaces.”
The Vancouver Public Schools Board of Directors unanimously approved sending the bond measure late last year. Board President Dale Rice, a Vancouver investment adviser, said maintenance costs at aging schools are “out of control.” By taking advantage of low interest rates now, Rice said taxpayers will save money in the long run.
“You end up with the equivalent of a free high school,” Rice said. “That’s like, please, give me that deal right now. Now is the time to do it.”
