Chris Cargill: Property tax surge hurting Spokane families

Working families in Spokane are getting a rude awakening at the mailbox this tax season. Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come.

Property tax bills are showing large increases, mostly from hikes to pay for public schools. Strong community support of public schools has been a Spokane tradition, but this is not what families thought they were getting themselves into.

School district officials around Spokane County pressed voters to approve new taxes by contending the hikes were just “levy renewals.” The secret is that most were not just renewals – they were, in fact, major increases.

For example, the Spokane Public Schools’ “levy renewal” in February actually increased the local levy rate by 60%. Central Valley officials performed the same sleight of hand in February 2020 – calling for support of a “supplemental levy” that increased the rate from $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, to $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Many supporters of these ballot measures dismissed any talk of an increase by concentrating on confusion that dates back more than five years.

At that time, the state property tax for schools was much lower. State legislators increased the state property tax by nearly 50% as part of the McCleary education lawsuit.

Lawmakers then promised to lower local school levy taxes to no more than $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The idea was that the state would provide more funding for education (and it did) while providing relief at the local level to avoid double taxation. Lawmakers also allowed local school districts to pursue new bond measures under the promise that approval wouldn’t raise local taxes.

Predictably, the political promises didn’t last.

With the higher state tax rates locked in place, legislators quietly let school districts raise local levy rates. It all means that property owners are seeing a triple tax play – higher state property tax rates, higher local levy rates and higher school bond rates.

Even before the levy 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 more than 47% jump. With new levy funding locked in, the money school officials get will surge even more. These spending increases are happening even though the number of enrolled students has fallen or stayed roughly the same. In fact, this year Spokane Public Schools is serving 6% fewer students, as families leave the public system in search of better options.

Spokane taxpayers fund public schools to the tune of more than $16,000 per year, per student – more than the tuition at most private schools. That equates to about $400,000 for a typical class of 25 students. This should be more than enough to provide a quality education.

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

School funding is important, but so are academic results. Unfortunately, there isn’t much insistence on the latter. A 2019 assessment of student learning in our country showed only 37% reading proficiency and 24% math proficiency by 12th-grade students.

Perhaps the only positive of the COVID school lockdowns has been the realization by parents that they should have choices.

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

Twenty-nine states have introduced legislative bills to fund students instead of systems. This would allow working families the same opportunities that exist for other students.

School choice allows the opportunity for families to choose a school that works best for the child, instead of just being assigned to the partially-closed neighborhood school.

School choice is popular. According to the EdChoice 2020 Schooling in America survey, nearly 80% of parents support school vouchers or Education Savings Accounts, and 76% support public charter schools. Spokane is home to several great charter schools, but the children in those schools are starved of levy funding by the state teachers’ union and many school officials.

If local school officials are going to insist on higher taxes, working families should insist on choice.

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

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