Questions and Answers

about the School Bond Measure

  What is on the ballot?

  Registered voters within Bellingham School District boundaries will receive a ballot in the mail during the week of Feb. 22 to vote on the following bond package to fund:

•    modernization of Shuksan Middle School…$22 million
•    seismic safety work for five of the district’s historic buildings — Columbia, Larrabee, Lowell,

     Whatcom and Roeder…$16 million
•    new elementary school in the northwest area at 4420 Aldrich Road…$13 million
•    new elementary school in the southeast area on Yew Street near Tacoma Avenue…$13 million
•    property purchase for elementary school in Sudden Valley

     and major facility preventative maintenance projects...$3 million

  Why is the bond measure needed? Are Bellingham Schools growing?
  Bellingham has been recognized nationally and statewide as a model high-achieving school district. The district is requesting funds to maintain our neighborhood schools and ease current overcrowding.

Shuksan Middle School’s mechanical, electrical, structural systems have exceeded their life because the school is almost 50 years old. With the exception of a 1961 classroom addition and a library addition in 1971, the school has not had any major renovation since it was built in 1956. Shuksan currently has four portable classrooms and is beyond capacity.

Seismic work for five of the district’s historic buildings — Columbia, Larrabee, Lowell, Whatcom and Roeder — is needed to increase the safety and structural integrity for future years.

We now have 351 more children in our elementary schools than we have space for in permanent classrooms. Overcrowding issues at our elementary schools, including Birchwood, Geneva and Happy Valley, have resulted in multiple portable classrooms. Portables cost $80,000 each and are a temporary fix for overcrowding. They take up playground space and do not relieve crowding during lunch and traffic congestion during drop-off/pick-up times.

Fall of 2008 is the earliest a new school could open. Interest rates are at a historic low and construction costs keep rising. Rapid growth north of Bakerview Road and in other pockets of our community continues.

The district also wants to provide all-day, every-day kindergarten in the future, but both additional state revenue and more elementary school space are needed first.

  How will local taxes be affected?
  Because debt on bonds is declining and property values are rising, the combined local school tax rate will still decrease even if the $67 million bond passes. The first year that taxes would be affected by the new bond is 2007 and taxpayers would see an estimated 18-cent decrease from the current combined local school tax rate.

                                            Tax Rates per $1,000 of Assessed Value

*previously approved by voters

  As property value in the community increases, don’t schools get more money?
  No. Unlike other entities, school districts do not automatically receive more money as property values in a community increase. The district has not received any extra money as the result of increased property values. When voters approve a bond, they authorize the school district to collect a fixed dollar amount to repay the bonds. So, as property value goes up, the combined local school tax rate (or dollars per $1,000) for taxpayers goes down (see chart above) and the total dollar amount received by the district stays the same.

  What is the tax impact?
  Even if the bond passes, a home with an assessed value at $300,000 in 2005 and 2007 (the first year taxes would be affected by a new bond) would have an estimated decrease of $54 per year in local school taxes.


  Is there a tax exemption for senior citizens and persons with disabilities?
  Yes. Qualifying senior citizens and persons with disabilities may be exempt. For more information, call the County Assessor’s office at 676-6790.


  When will I receive my ballot and how do I return it?
  Ballots will arrive in the mail to the address on file with Auditor’s Office after Feb. 22. Ballots should be postmarked by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, March 14. Ballots can be dropped off at the Whatcom County Courthouse, 311 Grand Avenue. Sixty percent approval is needed to pass the measure.

For more information, contact School Information at 676-6520.