Auburn School District No. 408
915 4th Street Northeast, Auburn, WA  98002

 11/25/03
Revised 12/8/03

NEWS RELEASE
Auburn School District Levy Set for
Tuesday, February 3, 2004

On Tuesday, February 3, 2004, the Auburn School Board of Directors will be submitting two propositions to local voters: 1) an educational program and operations replacement levy to provide approximately 18 percent of the district’s programs and services, and 2) a school bus levy to purchase new buses to replace aging buses and accommodate increasing numbers of students.

Proposition 1 is an educational program and operations replacement levy which will continue the current education programs and services provided to local students.  The levy will collect $18,200,000 and $19,100,000 in 2005 and 2006 respectively, replacing the expiring 2003 and 2004 levies.  (Levies are not cumulative and must be renewed to maintain current educational programs.)  The levy funds will be used to provide for portions of the education program not supported by the state’s basic education allocations.  Underfunded programs include: basic instructional programs; education of students with disabilities; gifted education; maintenance and custodial services; and transportation operations.  Programs that are not funded at all by the state and are totally dependent on levy dollars are all Auburn School District athletics such as fastpitch, track, and basketball and activities such as debate, band, and orchestra. The actual levy tax rate is $2.83 per $1,000 of assessed property value for 2003.  The projected levy rate for taxpayers is $2.78 in 2004.  If approved, the replacement levies are projected to be $2.75 for 2005 and $2.76 for 2006.  The passage of this levy ensures the continuation of current educational programs.

Proposition 2 is a two-year school bus levy that would purchase 24 school buses to replace aging buses and to transport students to the Auburn Mountainview High School.  Fourteen full-size buses will be required for the new high school and ten buses will be replacements, four of which will be smaller buses with wheelchair stations for students with disabilities. The levy amount would be $760,000 in 2005 and $1,340,000 in 2006.

 Auburn School District has not placed a school bus levy on the ballot since 1994 when voters approved a levy to purchase buses to transport students to Auburn Riverside High School.  Additional buses will be needed to transport the 1,100 students to Auburn Mountainview High School which will open in the fall of 2005.  The high school is being built on 124^th Southeast in the Lea Hill area and will only be accessible by vehicles since there will be no “safe walking routes.”

If approved, the educational program and operations levy and the school bus levy will increase Auburn School District’s total tax rate by one cent.   This total tax rate, which includes previously approved school construction bonds, will increase from $5.37 of assessed property value in 2004 to $5.38 in 2005 and 2006.

For more information, contact Superintendent Linda Cowan at (253) 931-4914.