(The Center Square) – Spokane Public Schools will ask voters to raise taxes this November to the tune of $200 million over 20 years as the city also pushes a $240 million accompanying levy.
The $440 million “Together Spokane” initiative could fund more than 200 projects across the city if voters say yes to the bond and parks levy in November. The joint proposal requires residents to vote on each ballot measure with a shared goal that serves students and everyday citizens.
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The SPS Board of Directors voted unanimously on Wednesday night to send its 20-year bond to the ballot. The Spokane City Council agreed to take its long-anticipated “Healthy Parks, Healthy Neighborhoods” levy to the ballot last week, setting both up for the November General Election.
“This resolution actually culminates about a year of partnership work with city parks,” SPS senior adviser Mark Anderson told the board, “where we would make an impact on every neighborhood, every school in the district, improving parks, neighborhoods and schools.”
Anderson said the collaboration would allow the city and district to tackle another 30 projects, compared to if they had gone at it alone. According to the “Together Spokane” website, if voters pass both measures, the total rate would be 29 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
According to the city’s ballot resolution, the levy will cost property owners 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, meaning the bond should only add a few cents. The bond rate could change with population and other factors over the years, but SPS is limited to generating $200 million.
The “Together Spokane” website says both taxes would cost families with a median home value of around $400,000 an additional $9.67 per month. Around $9, or 93%, would go to the Parks & Recreation Department, with about 67 cents heading to the school bond.
“This really continues the school district’s long-range plan to slowly and steadily replace our oldest schools,” Anderson said.
According to the SPS resolution, the 20-year bond would pay for rebuilding Adams and Madison elementary schools. Adams is over 100 years old, and Madison was built in 1949. It would also fund capital improvements across all 55 SPS schools and other ancillary facilities in the district.
The parks levy would pay for new parks, renovations, around 50 playground replacements, 85 restrooms, a new sports field, a disc golf course, and a pump track, among other projects. The levy requires a simple majority, but the bond will need at least a 60% supermajority to pass.
The council wanted residents to pass the levy last summer. However, they replaced it with Mayor Lisa Brown’s $40 million property tax proposal, which they ultimately ditched for another sales tax hike.
Voters rejected a $200 million proposal from SPS in February 2024, along with several bonds from other districts. SPS Board Vice President Michael Wiser called the shortcoming a “blessing in disguise” on Wednesday, as the district and city now advance a shared goal.
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“The level of partnerships that have gone into this one is going to take that investment and really just multiply the impact to our students and our community members,” Wiser said. “This just provides so many opportunities for our community. It’s an easy proposition to support.”
If voters pass only one of the proposals, projects within that tax plan will move forward, but likely to a different extent. The officials would need to adjust or abandon some of their joint initiatives.