Our Replacement Levy
The Educational Programs & Operations (EP&O) levy is not a new tax. It replaces a four-year levy that expires after December 2024.
This levy bridges the gap between state funding for our district and the cost of staff, materials, services, and facilities our students need to fulfill the community’s desire to prepare all students for the future of their choice.
This renewal levy will be on the February 2024 ballot.
Key facts
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Ballots are due February 13, 2024. Learn how to register to vote, check your voter registration, and local ballot drop boxes on our Voting webpage.
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If approved, the levy would be for four years from 2025 to 2028.
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Local levy dollars make up more than 16% of the Stanwood-Camano School District budget.
How do levies work?
For levies, voters approve a set total dollar amount that can be collected for the year. The school district cannot collect more than what voters approved. So, even as property values go up or down, the total amount doesn’t change from what voters approve. The estimated rate is $1.42 per $1,000 of assessed property value for 2025.
Voters last approved this levy in 2020 at a rate of $1.57 per $1,000 of assessed property value during the first year of collection in 2021.
Local levies bridge the ongoing state funding gap between what the state funds and what it actually costs to deliver on our commitment to offer each student a quality education, safe environments for learning, and resources for well-being.
Levy vs. bond
The difference between a bond and a levy is: Bonds are for building and levies are for learning. Money from a bond can only be used toward capital projects, while EP&O levies generally pay staff to provide programming a school district’s community wants above what the state provides for “basic education.”
What will this levy help pay for?
The EP&O levy allows for continued funding for day-to-day school operations to help ensure every student in our district has access to teaching and learning, supports for students, programs and opportunities for students such as athletics and after-school activities.
This levy helps to pay for staffing and operations that are unfunded — or underfunded — by the state, such as:
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All General Fund sports and extracurricular costs
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Safety, security, and student supervision staffing
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Additional teaching, nursing, and counseling staffing
“Our hope is that schools can help bring our community together with a shared focus on supporting students. We recognize there are diverse perspectives with any election and appreciate the respect our community can demonstrate for each other through elections. Our goal for this webpage is to provide factual information for our voters.”
— Superintendent Deborah Rumbaugh