As lawmakers continue to struggle with how to meet the state Supreme Court’s McCleary mandate to reduce school districts’ reliance on local levies to fund basic education, the levy swap has again gained currency. Melissa Santos reports on one legislative proposal.
A Republican plan to reduce school districts’ use of local levies to pay for basic education would raise property taxes in more than 40 percent of Washington’s school districts, including in high property value areas such as Seattle and Bellevue, according to nonpartisan legislative staff.
As currently written, the property tax swap proposed by Sen. Bruce Dammeier, R-Puyallup, would create higher property taxes in 123 of the state’s 295 school districts starting in 2020, the first year the plan would be fully implemented, Senate committee staff estimated.