Polling data have Vancouver Public Schools officials optimistic about the success of their pending bond measure, which asks voters to support nearly half a billion dollars in funding for facilities upgrades and construction.
A poll of 400 district residents by Portland-based public affairs firm CFM Strategic Communications found that 65 percent favored the $458 million bond proposal. Furthermore, 80 percent of parents who have students in VPS schools supported the measure.
“These are good numbers,” Superintendent Steve Webb said in an editorial meeting with The Columbian on Monday.
The district is asking voters to approve the bond measure on the Feb. 14 special election ballot. Vancouver is one of several districts asking voters to approve funding measures this winter.
The district forecasts 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 $1,000 over the 2017 tax rate. That works out to an increase of $20 per year on a $225,000 home.
After the current bond expires in 2021, that tax is expected to drop by 17 cents per $1,000, for a total bond rate of $1.35 per $1,000 assessed value. The existing bond was approved in 2001.
This bond measure is the largest the district has recently requested. The district ran bond measures of $45 million in 1990, $135 million in 1994 and $87.7 million in 2001. The district ran an $85.5 million bond measure in 2000; it failed by 215 votes.
A grant and state money would provide another $93 million for construction and upgrades.
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 number of votes in the last general election. That means at least 27,000 voters must approve the bond.
You can see video of all of The Columbian editorial board meetings on columbian.com and on The Columbian’s YouTube channel.
