Bucking an anti-tax trend, Highline voters passed a four-year $188 million education programs levy last week.
In updated results from Feb. 10, King County Elections reported 11, 918 yes votes (61.67 percent) and 7.407 no votes (38.33 percent.) The levy needed a 50 percent majority to be approved.
The Elections department will release updated totals on its website at 4:30 p.m. daily. The vote was a mail only election.
“We are grateful to Highline voters for this show of support,” Superintendent John Welch said in a press release. “This shows how much our community values the education of our children.
“Even in these tough times, people are willing to invest in education and support our local schools.”
At the Feb. 9 board meeting, board member Michael Spear noted, “it really feels good that 60 percent of those returning ballots supported our schools.”
Board member Bernie Dorsey termed the levy victory “a vote of confidence that shows we are heading in the right direction.”
Despite the economic downturn, Highline area voters have shown a willingness to tax themselves for government services.
Des Moines voters have approved formation of a special taxing district to keep open the Mt. Rainier Pool. And Normandy Park voters, by a very slim margin, OK’d a special taxing district to operate local parks.
The largest increase in property tax bills among King County school districts for 2011 is in Tukwila with a 10.9 percent hike.
The Highline Public Schools levy was a replacement for a four-year levy that expires this year.
The levy will raise $46 million in the first two years, $47 million in the third year and $49 million in the fourth year.
Homeowners should expect to pay $3.44 per $1,000 of assessed home valuation.
With big cuts from the state, the Highline district is counting on the levy to provide nearly 25 percent of its budget. District officials say they have trimmed $14.5 million from the budget over the past three years and face up to $2.1 million in additional reductions this year
Highline staffers say the levy would fund about 250 jobs. Eighty percent of the levy is targeted for teachers and support staff.
According to administrators, the funds would also go for bus drivers, textbooks, supplies, security, building maintenance, special education, music education, athletics, activities and the district's outdoor education program at North Bend's Camp Waskowitz.
They say the state does not provide enough "basic education" money to cover these costs.
District officials warned that if the levy was not approved, teachers and support staff could be laid off. Other cuts, they said, could include shortening the school day, reducing or eliminating courses, increasing class size, cutting extracurricular activities and athletics, limiting community use of school facilities and closing Camp Waskowitz, the district's outdoor environmental program near North Bend.