LCSD Board Minutes 11/20/2019 Levy Forum

SPECIAL MEETING

LEVY FORUM

MINUTES

DATE: November 20, 2019

TIME: 6:30 PM                                                    

LOCATION: District Learning Center

PRESENT: Barry DePaoli, , Jim Colbert, Jeff Fehr, Agustin Benegas-Garcia, Scott Renick, Guy Evans, Jeanna Smith, Tamar Burns, Travis Domser, Scott Granger, Steve Easley, Nigel Hunter, Conci Luna, Todd Hausman, Sarah Clarke, Erik Peterson, Heidi Busk, Gary Begin, Brian Wood, Brad Wilson, Larry Hedman, Brisa Montejano, Omar Montejano, Rosey Burkhard, Ray Wilson, Bob Soost, Todd Corrigan, Amber Corrigan, Linda Reister, Jose Mendoza, Jeff Barker, and Georgia Mashayekh

AGENDA ITEMS / PUBLIC REQUESTS – COMMENTS

• Call to Order

Jim Colbert called the meeting to order at 6:30pm.

• Approval of Agenda

There were no changes to the agenda.

• Public Comments or Request on Non-agenda Items

There were no public comments.

INFORMATION / DISCUSSION ITEMS

Barry thanked everyone for coming and had participants introduce themselves prior to his presentation.

The district is planning to run two replacement levies in the February election: EP&O Levy for 2 years and Technology Levy for 4 years. Approximately 16% of the district budget is underfunded by the State and the  levies serve to fill this void.

The presentation covered:

• Session Outcomes
• What the levy funds
• What the levies will cost taxpayers
• The importance of prioritizing in case the district has to reduce the budget
• Explanation of the difference between a Levy and a Bond
• the Educational Programs & Operations Levy (EPO) is the former

Maintenance &Operations Levy (M&O)

• There are 4 main levy types: (Technology, Transportation, Educational Programs and Operations, Capital Projects)
• Categories of support funded by the EP&O Levy were explained along with details of what is fully or partially funded by levy dollars

• New Levy Parameters from WA State

Barry explained how a levy is calculated and the state has changed the funding formula to calculate at a $3,454,709 cap to collect.  Since there is a cap, next year there will be fewer levy dollars coming in.

Since property values increase, and more people are moving into the district less money will be paid by each property owner.

Barry explained the impact of EHB 2242 from 2018.  The tax impact with the local levy combined with the state levy will be less than property owners paid in the past and in the next couple of years.

• Discussion on the current needs of the District

Barry asked the attendees to prioritize categories and then items within each category.  There were seven groups that worked together to discuss and prioritize information.

The brainstorming session also included the opportunity to state what may be wanted if the levy dollars were unlimited.

• Timelines

Barry thanked everyone for their time and input. The data will be analyzed, collated and this information will be available for review early next week.

ADJOURNMENT

Jim Colbert adjourned the meeting at 7:30pm.

________________________________                                                 ______________________________________

Jim Colbert, Board Chair                                                                                          Barry DePaoli, Superintendent