The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – The Columbia County Auditor’s Office will mail out ballots by week’s end asking voters to decide on the Dayton School District’s 2015 capital levy. The election officially takes place on Tuesday, April 28, and the measure requires a 50 percent yes vote to pass. This is the only measure on the ballot.

The district is requesting $800,000 in property tax payer’s money – spread out over 2016 and 2017 – to make improvements to the district’s facilities. This amounts to approximately 66 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2016 and 65 cents per $1,000 in 2017. A $200,000 home would levy about $132 in each of the two years.

“The levy addresses safety, security and efficiency needs,” said Dayton Schools Superintendent Doug Johnson. The school board plans to use the levy money to address a number of projects identified in a study and survey completed in 2014.

Among these are entry and exit doors, a remodel of the front wall of the gym entryway, roof projects, updates for the phone, irrigation system for watering district grounds and athletic facilities, repairs to the elementary asphalt playground and roof, and campus-wide sidewalk repairs.

This levy proposal is much smaller than the bond measure rejected by voters last year, which asked for $25 million for major renovations and changes to district facilities. If the current levy request passes, no bonds will be purchased. The funds will be used for projects as they are received.