February 14th is Valentine’s Day. It is also the last day to vote regarding the Kennewick and Finley School Districts operational levies. It’s ironic it falls on a romantic holiday as last year voters in Kennewick did not show their love to KSD on two separate occasions with regard to the levy.
It is the third time in 53 weeks that the two School Districts will ask the public to pass the operational levy. Last February residents passed the tech levy for the Kennewick School District which goes to fund equipment, software, infrastructure, training and support staff.
The operational levy didn’t fair as well as it was narrowly defeated, and in Finley it failed by 11 votes.
In April a special election was held in hopes the voters in both districts had a change of heart. Cupid was still closed for business.
The districts have lost not only the revenue the operational levy would’ve generated, but also money from the State that is awarded to certain districts upon the passage of their operational levy. If the levies pass this time, collection will not begin until 2024.
The latest Kennewick School District levy is designed to run for three years so that it will end the same time as the current tech levy and is structured as such:
2024 $1.73 per $1,000 of assessed property value for a levy amount of $23,000,000
2025 $1.68 per $1,000 of assessed property value for a levy amount of $23,850,000
2026 $1.63 per $1,000 of assessed property value for a levy amount of $24,700,000
Photo by CDC on Unsplash
The Finley School District operational levy is a two year proposal:
2024 $2.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value for a levy amount of $1,430,000
2025 $2.27 per $1,000 of assessed property value for a levy amount of $1,475,000
If mailing your ballot, make sure it is in the mail three to four days before February 14th or it may not arrive in time. If you plan to use the ballot box you have until 8pm February 14th to drop it off.
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