Moses Lake School District to run $16.7M levy request

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake School District patrons will decide the fate of a maintenance and operations levy, and possibly a construction bond, in a special election in February. The Moses Lake School Board talked about options for a levy during a special meeting last week.

Board chair Connie Opheikens said it was the continuation of a conversation started at the July 26 board retreat. The M&O levy will expire at the end of 2015, and Opheikens said board members have decided to offer a replacement levy proposal.

Mark Johnson, director of business and operations, said four years is the maximum time limit for a levy, but he didn't think four years was prudent. He recommended a three-year proposal.

The amount will be determined. Moses Lake superintendent Michelle Price said district personnel will start working on a proposal, which will be presented to the board sometime before December.

The board didn't discuss an amount. The three-year levy approved in 2012 will collect $16.7 million in 2015. It passed with 50.23 percent of the vote.

Price said that a 3- to 5-percent increase will allow the district to maintain its current programs, taking inflation into account. A 3 percent increase would mean the first year of the new levy would be $17.2 million. A 5 percent increase would be $17.5 million.

Johnson said district officials already know that transportation costs will increase, and board member Vicki Groff said Associated Student Body revenues may drop, due to proposed regulations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (The regulations place extensive restrictions on the kind of foods sold at public schools that receive a subsidy for the school lunch program.)

It might be necessary for the school district to make up some of that loss, Groff said.