Districts review 2009 levy amounts

The North Thurston and Tumwater school districts will hold public meetings Friday to consider raising their 2009 levy amounts to make up for cuts in state funding announced this week by Gov. Chris Gregoire.

Both districts set their 2009 levy amounts this month at levels that were lower than what voters approved earlier this year, because of state limitations on how much districts can collect.

But the governor's cuts announced Tuesday included reductions in state funding aimed at lowering the local taxpayer burdens for school districts where property values are below the state average.

That funding is called levy equalization. The Olympia School District does not receive levy equalization money and is not affected by this cut.

The 4 percent reduction means that some of the districts that receive levy equalization money are considering raising the local levy rates to make up for that loss.

The deadline to set the levy is Nov. 30, so Tumwater and North Thurston set special meetings for Friday, officials said.

• North Thurston will lose $40,000 out of $1 million of levy equalization it was scheduled to receive from the state in 2009, according to district officials spokeswoman Courtney Schrieve and assistant superintendent of administrative services Shawn Lewis. Friday, the board will consider changing the levy amount from $2.18 per $1,000 of assessed value to $2.21 per $1,000 of assessed value, or from $545 to $552.50 for a $250,000 home.

• Tumwater will lose about $30,000 out of about $884,000 of levy equalization it was scheduled to receive from the state, said district director of financial resources Allen Jones. Friday, the Tumwater board will consider changing the levy amount from $2.26 per $1,000 of assessed value to $2.27 per $1,000 of assessed value, or from $565 to $567.50 for a $250,000 home.

• The cut in levy equalization money statewide is $8 million out of $203 million budgeted for 2009, according to the memo released Tuesday by the Office of Financial Management.

Venice Buhain covers education for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.