Monday, November 10, 2025
The Olympia School District Board of Directors unanimously approved a resolution, which calls for a ballot proposition to levy an additional tax of $72,987,000 for technology and capital projects.
The proposition is going to appear on the Feb. 10, 2026, Special Election ballot. The school board made the decision at a meeting on Thursday, Oct. 23.
The so-called "Technology, Safety, and Facility Improvement Levy" would fund computer technology, staff training, administrative expenses, safety improvements for school systems and facility enhancements.
The levy would be authorized for four years from the 2026-27 school year through the 2030-31 school year.
Executive Director of Business and Finance Kate Davis, led the second reading of the resolution during the board meeting on Oct. 23.
“Our Technology, Safety, and Facility Improvement Levy is a replacement levy. The majority of the items in this levy are to maintain what has already been funded with the existing technology and safety levy,” Davis said.
The bulk of the money ($30,159,921) raised by the proposed levy would go toward instructional technology.
“In total, it is $72.9 million over four years. We really aimed to keep a steady tax rate of about $0.96 over those four years. This is based on having an estimated 5.83% growth in our assessed property values,” Davis said.
The amount is a noticeable change from the prior levy of $52.4 million. Davis attributed the difference to significant inflation and costs in the area of technology over time.
“While we assume an estimated tax rate, what we will be ultimately collecting is the levy amount between $16-$19 million per year. So if assessed values change, ultimately what we collect is the levy amount, not the tax rate,” Davis said.
Davis also said that the district aims to have a tax rate of under $5 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
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HappyOlympian
"what we will be ultimately collecting is the levy amount between $16-$19 million per year." This for a city of 60k. Good thing my savings account bottomless, otherwise our local officials might have to decide what is important and what is not.
Monday, October 27 Report this
Honestyandrealityguy
Spending like drunken sailors? Common sense please.
Tuesday, October 28 Report this
sonshi
$73,000,000, a total K-12 around 9000 students. Around $8,000 per student. This is just for 'technology' improvements. For reference, the total per student spending averages around $20,000 per student in this state [above average BTW]. I would be more likely to support levies with specific outcome-based programs tied to performance improvements. The recent reading/writing numbers are abysmal, and this is not for a lack of 'technology'.
Tuesday, October 28 Report this