FAQ: Bond & Levies

Funding for education in the state of Washington is complicated. The state does provide some funding to school districts, but there is still a gap between what the state provides and what it costs to provide the services and programs Northshore students need. Some examples of the gaps between what the state funds and what the District pays for are as follows:

• In 2021-22, the District receives funding for 3.5 full-time equivalent (FTE)* nurses. However, the District pays for 27.9 nurse FTE, filling the gap of 24.4 FTE. This represents 40 individuals. The District also pays for substitute and agency nurses to provide support and coverage at all schools.

• In 2021-22, the District receives funding for 0.58 FTE psychologists and pays for 22.3 FTE. This represents 24 individuals.

• In 2021-22, the District receives funding for 14.4 FTE elementary counselors and pays for 16.1 FTE. This represents 19 individuals.

• In 2021-22, the District receives funding for 32.4 FTE middle and high school counselors and pays for 41.4 FTE. This represents 46 individuals.

• In 2020-21, the District received $38.9 million in state special education funding and $5.4 million in federal special education funding. The total amount expended to provide special education services to our students last year was $67.5 million. The difference of $23.2 million was paid for by the District.

The state does not provide any funding for major construction projects in schools. In order to fill these funding gap​s, school districts often utilize bonds and levies. This local funding allows our school district to provide the structures and services our community relies on, which allows students to grow and thrive.

 Learn more about school bond and levy funding in Washington state from Educational Service District 112.

*Note about FTE: Full-time equivalents are a way to indicate the workload of an employee (or student) in a way that makes the information comparable across various contexts. A 1.0 FTE works full-time but it's possible that FTE is split between multiple locations. For instance, 0.5 FTE in two different elementary schools would be a 1.0 FTE.

In the Feb. 8 election, Northshore’s EP&O and Technology levies require a simple majority, or 50% + 1 of the votes cast, to pass. The Capital Projects Bond requires a super majority, or 60%, to pass.

The bond measure must meet a validation requirement, in which the number of ballots cast must total 40% or more of the total number of ballots cast in the previous General Election, in this case the November 2021 election. There is no validation requirement for levies.

We are committed to keeping the rates as stable as possible. The below chart shows the rate per $1,000 of assessed property value for all 3 measures combined. This reflects what the tax rate was in 2021 and what it is estimated to be in 2023. If approved in February, the tax rate would drop and we would remain consistent over the next four years.

Both the EP&O Levy and Technology Levy are expiring this year, so approval of these two measures will allow the district to maintain the support for students and staffing funded by these measures for another four years. Local education levies expire on a regular cycle and must be brought in front of voters to be renewed.

The charts below show the tax rates per year for 2021 and 2022 under the current levies and also show the tax rates projected from 2023-2026 if the levies are approved on Feb. 8.

While the Capital Projects Bond is not a renewal, it does replace previous bonds the district has paid down. The District has structured its outstanding bonds to make room for this authorization without increasing tax rates. It is anticipated that bond payments will be structured to keep the District’s total tax rate stable over time.

Taxes collected are based on the assessed property value, which is determined by the Assessor’s Offices in King and Snohomish counties, based on the location of the property. The sale price of a home or property is not what determines how much is paid in property taxes. While assessed values have increased over time, they have not increased at the same rate as home sale prices.

The taxes collected for school levies and bonds are spread across the entire tax base of the Northshore School District. In our district, as more construction projects continue to be completed, the taxes will be spread across that growing base of property owners, which includes both homes and businesses. Voters approve a total dollar amount for each ballot measure, and that total amount does not change as the tax base grows. The result is that the tax rates are likely to decrease from what is projected in the District’s current estimates because there will be more property owners paying taxes. As we like to put it, the size of the pie does not change, but each property owner’s slice of the pie is likely to get smaller as more taxpayers take a slice.

The Capital Bond Planning Task Force (CBPTF) was responsible for recommending projects to include in the bond to the school board. The task force had more than 70 members, including parents/guardians, community members, students, teachers, and district staff. CBPTF looked at each school’s needs, including expansion and modernization. Many schools need attention.  One of the reasons the schools listed in the bond were selected is because their sites have capacity to handle construction while students are still in class. Other sites may need to have students go to another school while their school is being expanded and modernized. Additional work will need to be done to prepare for modernizations at schools where there are site restrictions.

Portables play an important role in most school districts, including Northshore. They allow for fluctuation in enrollment. They are, however, meant to be temporary, and are built using materials that anticipate a shorter life span. Aging portables do not provide ideal learning environments for students, and they are expensive to maintain. Northshore has a number of portables that are ready to be retired.  In fact, NSD has 62 portables that are 30+ years old. This is well beyond a portable’s typical life-cycle.

The passage of this bond would help reduce the portable inventory by 70 classrooms.  While this will help us remove/replace the oldest portables, Northshore will still have a substantial portable inventory to handle fluctuations in enrollment.

The senior citizen/disabled persons property tax exemption programs in King and Snohomish counties help to reduce your property tax liability.  The qualifying criteria for the program is based upon your age and/or disability, residency, and income. 

Please contact the assessor's office for more information:
King County: https://senior-exemption.kingcounty.gov/intro
Snohomish County: https://snohomishcountywa.gov/328/Property-Tax-Exemptions