Chris Cargill: Property tax hike hurts Spokane families

Working families in Spokane are rudely awakened at the mailbox this tax season. Unfortunately, the worst is still to come.

Property tax bills have risen sharply, mainly due to hikes to pay for public schools. The strong community support of public schools has been a Spokane tradition, but this is not what families wanted to get into.

Spokane County’s school district officials urged voters to approve new taxes, claiming the increases were just “levy renewals.” The secret is that most of them weren’t just innovations – they were, in fact, significant gains.

For example, the Spokane Public Schools’ “Renewal of Duty” in February actually increased the local duty rate by 60%. Central Valley officials did the same in February 2020, calling for support for an “additional levy” that increases the tax rate from $ 1.50 per $ 1,000 of estimated value to $ 2.50 per $ 1,000 of estimated value has been.

Many proponents of these electoral measures opposed any talk of an increase, focusing on confusion dating back more than five years.

At the time, the state property tax for schools was much lower. State lawmakers increased state property tax by nearly 50% as part of the McCleary Education Lawsuit.

Lawmakers then promised to cut local school taxes to no more than $ 1.50 per $ 1,000 of estimated value.

The idea was that the state would (and it did) allocate more funding to education while providing local relief to avoid double taxation. Lawmakers also allowed local school districts to introduce new borrowing measures, under the promise that the permit would not increase local taxes.

Predictably, the political promises did not last.

Given the higher government tax rates, lawmakers tacitly let school districts raise local tax rates. All of this means that property owners are experiencing a triple tax game – higher state property tax rates, higher local tax rates, and higher school loan rates.

Even before the tax rates were approved, Spokane Public Schools officials had already increased their district budget from $ 316 million in 2010 to $ 470 million this year. That’s a jump of more than 47%. With the new levy funding, the money school officials receive will continue to increase. These increases in spending occur even though the number of students enrolled has decreased or has remained about the same. In fact, Spokane Public Schools are serving 6% fewer students this year as families leave the public system in search of better opportunities.

Spokane taxpayers fund public schools at more than $ 16,000 per year per student – more than most private school tuition. That’s about $ 400,000 for a typical class of 25 students. This should be more than enough to ensure quality training.

About 40% of a homeowner’s tax burden is the result of voter-approved levies. That amount will increase significantly over the next year when homeowners get billed for what voters just passed.

School funding is important, but so is academic outcomes. Unfortunately, not much insists on the latter. An assessment of the learning of high school students in our country in 2019 found that 12th grade students read only 37% and 24% mastered math.

Perhaps the only positive thing about the COVID school closings was parents’ realization that they should have a choice.

While school and union officials have closed many schools for months and still stand in the way of opening the doors in many areas, families and some lawmakers are fighting back.

29 states have introduced bills to fund students instead of schemes. This would give working families the same opportunities that exist for other students.

School choice gives families the opportunity to choose a school that is most suitable for the child rather than just being assigned to the partially closed neighborhood school.

The choice of school is popular. According to the EdChoice 2020 Schooling in America survey, nearly 80% of parents support school vouchers or educational savings accounts, and 76% support public charter schools. There are several large charter schools in Spokane, but the children in these schools are no longer funded by the state teachers’ union and many school officials.

If local school officials want to insist on higher taxes, working families should insist on the election.

After all, we choose our grocery stores. We choose our child’s doctor. We choose our hairdressers, restaurants, mechanics and hobbies. Why can’t we choose our schools?

Chris Cargill is the director of Eastern Washington for the Washington Policy Center, an independent research organization with offices in Spokane, Tri-Cities, Olympia, and Seattle. Online at washingtonpolicy.org.