Special election set for school levies
MOSES LAKE - The Grant County Auditor's Office mails ballots on Jan. 21 for a special election on Feb. 8.
Voters need to postmark the ballots by Feb. 8 to have their vote count.
Voters who are first time registrants in Washington state must register by Jan. 31 in person at the auditor's office in the Grant County Courthouse, located at 35 C St. N.W. in Ephrata.
A port district boundary elimination, cemetery levy, school bond vote and three school levies are presented to voters within the appropriate districts.
Ephrata School District
Ephrata School District proposes a $4.75 per $1,000 assessed property value levy.
Through the levy, the district will raise $3.4 million in 2012, $3.5 million in 2013, $3.6 million in 2014 and $3.7 million in 2015.
Grand Coulee Dam School District
The Grand Coulee Dam School District wants to replace an expiring levy to be collected through 2012 to 2015.
The district proposes collecting $4.37 per $1,000 accessed property value from residents living within the district, raising around $1.1 million each year.
The collected funds goes toward the general fund, which pays for education, maintenance and operation expenses.
Port District 7
The Grant County Port District 7, located in Grand Coulee, is asking voters to approve the port district changing the current three separate district representative model to making all positions to be at-large.
The port district wants to expand commissioner eligibility to anyone living within Grand Coulee or Electric City.
Kary Byam, treasurer for the port district, said the current three district model discourages commissioner participation, which is on a volunteer basis.
"We thought about redistricting, but that would have been too much of a pain," he said.
The current model allows three commissioners from south Grand Coulee with roughly 500 people, north Grand Coulee with roughly 200 people and Electric City with 900 people.
The population differences creates a disproportionate commissioner eligibility pool, said Byam.
Quincy School District
The Quincy School District wants to replace an expiring maintenance and operations levy for collection years 2012 through 2015.
Under the proposed three-year levy, the district plans to collect $2.95 per $1,000 accessed property value in 2012, raising roughly $5.9 million.
In 2013, the district plans to increase the amount to $3 per $1,000 accessed property value, raising roughly $6.5 million.
The district plans to collect $3.05 per $1,000 accessed property value in 2014 and 2015, raising around $7.1 million and $7.7 million, respectively.
Quincy Valley Cemetery District 1
The Quincy Valley Cemetery District 1 wants to raise $280,535 for maintenance and operation services through a one year levy adding an addition 15 cents per $1,000 assessed property value.
The special tax levy would be collected in 2012.
The district plans to overlay roads, straighten headstones and possibly put in a shelter to store the burial flags, according to Mike Scharbach, president of the cemetery board.
He said the cemetery has more than 200 burial flags right now that are stored in various farmers' sheds.
The cemetery also plans to use the fund to upgrade the pumphouse.
The district passed a levy about four years ago, according to Scharbach.
The cemetery was built in the 1920s and is about 50 percent full, said Scharbach.
Royal School District bond
The Royal School District seeks to raise $8.8 million from general obligation bonds to expand and renovate schools to help with overcrowding issues.
The bond will be repaid through an annual levy against excess property tax within the next 15 years.
The district plans to construct an addition to the existing buildings for grades four through six, expand and renovate Royal High School, renovate the Royal Middle School computer lab and make various Americans with Disability Act (ADA) accessibility improvements.