Soap Lake School District levy on ballot Feb. 13

SOAP LAKE — Soap Lake School District voters will be asked to accept or reject a four-year educational programs and operations levy in a special election Feb. 13. Ballots will be mailed later this month.

District Superintendent Aaron Chavez said the levy, if it’s approved, will replace the existing levy. Property owners in the district would pay $2.29 per $1,000 of assessed property value if the levy is approved, the same rate as the current levy.

“The board decided to keep it at $2.29 because they feel the way the economy is right now, we don’t want to overburden our taxpayers,” Chavez said.

If approved, the levy would raise about $736,100 in 2025, about $776,100 in 2026, about $818,400 in 2027 and $862,900 in 2028. A property owner with property valued at $200,000 would pay $458 per year in taxes, and a property owner with land valued at $300,000 would pay $687 per year in taxes.

Soap Lake also would be eligible for local effort assistance funding from the state; LEA provides additional money to districts with relatively lower property values that pass a local levy. 

The levy money, Chavez said, is used to plug gaps in funding for education.

“The state doesn’t fully fund education,” he said. “And I know where they said they’re going to try to fully fund it, but they’re not doing it. So that’s what the EP&O levies do, is help support keeping those programs.”

Soap Lake school officials use some of the levy money to supplement the state allocation for school operations like maintenance and additional staff. The money also supplements programs like music and art, some vocational education and upgrading the district’s technology. All schools, including Soap Lake, fully fund their own extracurricular programs, from athletics to field trips.

Voters can leave their ballots in a drop box across the street from Soap Lake City Hall, 239 SE Second Ave. Ballots that are mailed must be postmarked on or before Feb. 13. 

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.