Othello board begins discussing next EP&O levy, a year early

OTHELLO — It’s a year away, but Othello School District officials are discussing the district’s next educational programs and operations levy. 

Othello Superintendent Pete Perez said the discussion was prompted by EP&O levies on the February ballot in some neighboring school districts, especially Moses Lake and Ephrata. It will be up to the Othello School Board members to decide on the details of a levy request, Perez said, and there’s been some turnover on the board since the last levy was passed.  

Amy Suarez, OSD executive director of business services, said the levy is important because it pays for desirable programs, and that district patrons want, but that the state does not fund.  

“The levy covers the gaps,” Suarez said.  

District voters approved a three-year EP&O levy in 2023, and it was projected that property owners would pay an assessment of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value. But Suarez said the district actually collected about $1.23 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2024, due to increases in the assessed valuation of property in the district. 

As a result, the amount of money actually collected in 2024 was below the estimate of what would be collected; the district will collect about $2.7 million. In turn that affected the amount of “local effort assistance” OSD received. 

Local effort assistance is provided by the state to districts with relatively lower property values. Othello qualifies for about $4.29 million in local effort assistance, provided a levy is in place. 

Board chair Lindsy Prows asked why the tax assessment decreased when property values increased. Suarez said the district had a fixed amount it could collect, in Othello’s case about $2.8 million.  

As property values increase, the assessment goes down, she said. 

“It doesn’t take as many dollars to come up with that $2.8 million,” Suarez said. 

District voters approved a construction bond in 2007 which will be paid off in 2027. Perez said district officials — and Othello residents — should start thinking about the possibility of a new construction bond, and if a bond proposal is prepared, what projects should be included. 

Suarez said the assessed value of property in the district has increased — a lot. Assessed valuation in 2022, when district officials prepared the last levy, was about $1.71 billion. District officials presumed an 8% growth in valuation over the life of the levy, she said, but it went up more than that. 

Assessed valuation for the district was about $2.3 billion in 2024. 

“That’s why it’s making such a big difference,” Suarez said. 

Perez pointed to the chart to answer what he said is a question he gets a lot, the difference between Othello and Quincy. 

“Do you see Quincy on that chart?” he asked. 

The assessed value of property in the Quincy School District was about $7.93 billion – higher than Moses Lake – due to the unusual makeup of businesses in Quincy. The town has become a hub for data centers; the data centers pay a substantial share of the taxes, he said. 

“I get that a lot from folks who say, “Why can’t we do what they’ve done in Quincy?’ Well, that’s one of the factors, their assessed value,” he said.  

Suarez said she would return to the board during the summer for further discussions.