The Low Down on the Tax Rate

Let’s face it, school financing is complicated.  That includes levies. If you’re curious why school districts talk about “approximate” rates, read on.

By Washington state law, school districts ask for a total amount in levy collections from their community for a specific time period.

For example, Lyle School District is asking for $700,000 in local levy funds for each of two years, 2022 and 2023, the same amount we are currently authorized to collect in 2021. But, in order for voters to understand how much the levy will cost them personally, we estimate the tax rate based on estimated growth in property values and the number of students we have currently.

Because of our small size, the state limits our levy collections to the equivalent of $2,500 per student enrolled in the previous year.  (Yes, this is new in the past three years.  If you’d like to know more about it, go to Frequently asked Questions.)

This has resulted in a large reduction in our levy collections since before 2018.  In fact, the estimated tax rate for 2022 and 2023 is less than half of the tax rate in 2014 and 2015.   

Other public entities, like fire districts, ask for a levy tax rate, not a set amount.  If property values increase, they collect more. School districts do not. We will collect approximately the same amount. In fact, our taxpayers will see a decrease in the school tax rate if property values rise.

Oh No! We Made a Mistake on Our Levy Mailer

Like we said, this tax rate business is confusing, even for us.  In the levy mailer sent to voters in January, we mentioned the tax rate per “$100,000” value of a home. This was incorrect.  Levy tax rates are calculated by $1,000 value.

But the examples provided in the flyer of the cost to a homeowner whose house is worth $325,000 or $350,000 ARE correct.  (See the image above)

Want to know how to calculate how much the levy will cost you in 2022 and 2023?  Here’s how you do it:

1. Find your assessed valuation. The county sends these to property owners every year.  

2. Round up to the closest thousand.  So, for a home worth $324,900, round up to $325,000 and drop the zeros.

3. Multiply the remaining number by the tax rate.  So, using our example, 325 multiplied by 1.64:

So a house is worth $325,000 in 2022 will pay $533 per year in local levy taxes. 

Divide 533 by 12 to determine a monthly cost -- $44.41.

Divide 533 by 52 to determine the weekly cost - $10.25.