Moses Lake school levy amount set

MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake School District set the amount of a three-year replacement levy.

Voters are asked to approve the levy on Feb. 14.

The proposed levy replaces the three-year maintenance and operation (M&O) levy expiring in 2012. The current levy collection rate is $2.20 per $1,000 of assessed value. The school district collected $10.4 million in 2011.

The anticipated charge in 2012 is $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. The district will collect approximately $10.8 million.

If approved, the new levy would charge $3.45 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2012, $3.51 in 2013, and $3.59 in 2014.

The levy would collect $15.1 million in 2013; $15.9 million in 2014 and $16.7 million in 2015.

The replacement levy includes $5.7 million to make up for anticipated state cuts, including the loss of levy equalization assistance.

The M&O replacement levy helps pay for services beyond what the state deems necessary for basic education, Board Member Lew Mason said at a public forum at Longview Elementary School last week.

The levy funds services like music programs, counselors, reading specialists, literacy coaches, sports programs, extra curricular activities, librarians and nurses, he said.

Julianne Dodds, co-chair of Citizens for Progress in Education, the group promoting the school district's bond and levy proposals, knows firsthand the value of education in Moses Lake.

Her son, Nick Dodds, graduated from Moses Lake High School last year and is now attending college.

"The community has been very supportive in the past and I know this is going to be difficult for everyone," she said. "Their support is the only way that we're going to get our kids to the next level."

"Life learning has to continue throughout your lifetime," she added. "When we get done with school, we need to make sure that there's a good school system in place for the kids that are coming behind us, whether they're our children, or our neighbor's children."