Next Tuesday, February 7, city residents and taxpayers will vote whether to pass or fail a bond financing a long-range plan for the renovation and rebuilding of the district's schools and facilities. In order to pass, a "supermajority", at least three fifths or 60%, of Federal Way voters must cast in its favor.

The Washington state constitution grants school districts the power to raise capital via bond measures and levies by authorizing increased property taxes within the district. However, the bond only is passed if at least 60 percent of those voting in a school district election vote "yes" and the voter turn out exceeds 40 percent of the voters who participated in the district's last general election.

In Washington State, each school district must come up with their own money for rebuilding, remodeling or building new schools for their students. State law does not provide a guaranteed source of funding for capital improvements.

If passed, the bond measure funds will be used in conjunction with "State Match" monies. Derived mostly from state timber sales, the state match formula is designed to distribute a limit pool of money for school construction among the nearly 300 districts.

All of the Federal way schools to be rebuilt with the $245 million bond- Federal Way High School, Lakota, Lakeland, Panther Lake, Sunnycrest and Valhalla - are eligible for matching state funds, because of the age of the buildings since their last renovations.

In Federal Way, the bond measure proposes to increase the schools' piece of the local property tax rate by about 55 cents per thousand dollar of valuation.

"The owner of a $200,000 home in Federal Way would pay another $110 annually," says Sally McLean, chief financial officer of the district.

"I'm confident it will pass. We have an identified need, that need does not go away. Although the supermajority rule does make it more challenging to pass, what's happened in other districts, such as Auburn, where the district had to present the same bond measure package to the voters 5 times before it was finally passed...that hasn't happened in our community yet."

"In the past 14 years, Federal Way Public Schools has requested less financial support in bond measures from the community than many other similarly-sized and/or neighboring districts," said Deb Stenberg of the FWPS.

On January 23, the Washington State Senate voted 74 to 23 in favor of House Joint Resolution 4205, which calls for presenting voters with a proposed amendment to the state constitution to allow school levies and bond measures to be approved by a simple majority (50 percent) instead and removes the 40 percent election validation requirement

To amend the Washington state constitution, the bill must receive support from two-thirds of the legislature before going on the ballot in the next general election for approval from voters.

Sponsored by state Senator Tracey Eide of Federal Way, who has introduced similar legislation every year since 1999, state voters may decide to reinstate the simple majority rule.

"I believe this is the year to pass these bills," Eide said at a committee meeting in Olympia last Wednesday.

In 1944, voters elected to add the supermajority requirement to the constitution. Senator Eide and several other sponsoring lawmakers say the conditions that prompted the constitutional amendment have drastically changed.

Adapted by initiative during the Great Depression, it was a time when many families lost their homes and fewer citizens owned homes. During the late 30s and early 40s, there were over 2,000 distinct school districts in the state, and wary homeowners, who often were unclear on which districts they were supporting, did not want non-property owners to be able to raise property taxes in secretive elections.

Now with 296 school districts, elections well publicized and monitored, and more citizens owning their own home and voting via absentee ballot, supporters of the proposed amendment say it's time to reform school bond voting.

"The current supermajority requirement is undemocratic because, in school levy or bond elections, the minority, including people who choose not to vote, have a greater say in the outcome than the majority of voters," says testimony in favor of resolution 4205 provided in a House Bill report released last week.

Opponents of the constitutional amendment, such as Myrtle Cooper, a concerned citizen who testified at the January 23rd hearing, say that the supermajority requirement keeps the election fair.

"Any tax increase should require a 60 percent "yes" vote. Current law requires that the number of people who vote "yes" in a levy or bond election must equal 24 percent of the people who voted "yes" in the last election. This allows about 15-21 percent of the registered voters, or 8 percent of the people, to raise taxes for everyone else," argued Cooper.

"The requirements of super-majority and validation are not required of other local governments when voters are asked to approve jails, libraries, museums or stadiums. Why should schools be held to a higher standard of voter approval than jails, sports stadiums, cities, counties, and libraries? The people of Washington State have had the opportunity to amend their own constitution one hundred and sixty nine times. They have chosen to do so ninety-four times," says Scott Allen, Legislative Director for the Washington State PTA, a staunch supporter of the proposed constitutional amendment.

The 2006 Bond Measure would also:

Rebuild Memorial Stadium in a more central location, and create a 900-seat Performance Auditorium as well as an Environmental Studies Center for an Outdoor Education Program.

Consolidate district-wide services including the bus yard, maintenance, the central kitchens and other support services to an easily accessible central location near the new Memorial Stadium._