Dayton Considers M&O Levy, Capital Projects Levy

DAYTON - The Dayton School District is looking at asking taxpayers to pass a $1.3 million maintenance and operations levy in February that would help fund personnel, activities, athletics and other general maintenance costs for two years.

Superintendent Doug Johnson said the levy would be on the Feb. 14, 2012 ballot. It is a replacement levy for a current M&O levy that will last collect in October 2012. The new taxes, if the levy is passed by voters, will be collected the following year. The district still has yet to make decisions on the length of the levy and the amount.

The new levy will cost taxpayers a bit more than the current levy it would replace. If passed, in 2012 it would cost taxpayers $2.31 per $1,000 of assessed property value. This is a bit lower than the current rate citizens are paying at $2.39.

In reviewing other levies from districts around Eastern Washington, Dayton has one of the lowest M&O levy (amounts)," said Steve Martin, chairman of the Dayton School Board. "In my opinion, it's a very reasonable budget request."

In 2010, the voters passed the current maintenance and operations levy that costs $1.98 per $1,000 of assessed value. Then, a supplemental levy was passed last February that brought the total income to about $1.3 million for maintenance and operations. Johnson said he wanted people to understand they are paying in 2012 the original M&O passed in 2010 at $1.98 plus the supplemental passed in 2011, about $.45 more.

Johnson said the money is needed because cuts at the state and federal levels leave significant need for funds in the district. The maintenance and operation money currently funds a wide variety of staff members, a quarter of it is spent on activities and athletics, and portions fund transportation, food services, attorney bills and utilities.

Johnson said to his knowledge the community has always been behind the school district and supported its operations and he hopes to have the levy pass easily.

" The community has been very supportive of the schools in general," he said. "They've been awesome. If the M&O didn't pass that's $1.3 million we'd have to cut from the budget. It would be catastrophic."

The maintenance and operations money does not benefit technology and capital projects, Johnson said. The taxpayers are currently paying a technology levy of $0.10 of $1,000 assessed value through 2012. Johnson said he is getting ready to present a replacement levy for technology and capital projects to the school board to see if they believe the district should ask taxpayers to support new computers, bleachers and other projects in addition to maintenance and operations.

The current technology levy brings in $50,000 a year to the district. The new levy would need to bring in $50,000 to $100,000, Johnson said.

"We're still laying out ex- penditures," he said.

In 2014, many of the district's hand- me- down computers will need to be replaced. The school district will need to replace them or invest in an expensive server to keep them up and running.

In addition to new computers, the district is also looking at putting in safer bleachers in the high school gym, which would cost $180,000. The elementary school needs to have new asphalt laid on the playground, which would cost about $45,000. Finally, Johnson said the district would like to upgrade the irrigation system to an automatic sprinkler system to save water and allow more playing time on the fields, which would cost about $45,000. All of these projects could be funded through a technology and capital projects levy, he said.

The school board has already decided to go out for the maintenance and operations levy, and it will need to decide before the New Year if it wants to ask for computer and project money as well.

The Citizens for Education will be campaigning the levy to make citizens aware of the ballot measure.

A meeting will be held Nov. 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium to talk about the levy and the proposed projects. At the school board meeting on Dec. 7, the school board will take a close look at the capital levy and possibly make a decision. Martin encouraged the community to come to the meetings and voice their support and concerns.

"It's really important to hear from our community what (kinds of projects) they would like to see," Martin said. "There's a whole range of things the district needs to improve. We need to know what people are thinking now instead of at the ballot box."