Nearly 100 school officials representing all 30 Southwest Washington school districts asked local lawmakers Friday to spare school levy equalization funding as they set about the grim task of slashing $2 billion from the state budget.
Proposed cuts in equalization levies
Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed grouping the state’s school districts in four tiers based on their property tax rates for maintenance and operations levies. Districts whose landowners pay the highest rates would take the smallest cuts to their levy equalization support in 2013. Here is how Clark County districts would fare:
Tier 4 (100 percent cut)
Camas’ $1,122,557 levy equalization would go to zero.
Green Mountain’s $37,499 support would go to zero.
Vancouver’s $8,437,198 support would go to zero.
Washougal’s $747,691 support would go to zero.
Tier 3 (50 percent cut)
Battle Ground’s $6,275,086 support would go to $3,137,543.
Evergreen’s $13,624,200 support would go to $6,812,000.
Hockinson’s $779,922 support would go to $389,961.
La Center’s $581,314 support would go to $290,657.
NOTE: Ridgefield is not a levy equalization district.
SOURCE: ESD 112
The legislative forum, sponsored by Educational Service District 112 in Vancouver, drew nine lawmakers, including five from Clark County: state Sen. Craig Pridemore and state Reps. Jim Moeller, Tim Probst, Paul Harris and Ann Rivers.
Education consultant Marcia Fromhold set the tone for the session by warning that the impacts of the next round of budget cuts will be “gigantic — worse than any of us have ever seen.”