Snohomish School Levy

The Snohomish School Levy appears to have passed, with 69% of the vote. The forces of light have triumphed over the forces of darkness, at least for now.

In a comment on my earlier post on this subject, “Anonymous “ wrote

… But if your house valuation has increased by 20% or more then you are stuck with an equivalent increase in taxes under this logic. It is nice for the schools to have their budget tied to an economic factor that is going up much faster than inflation. They shouldn't play ignorance of this fact.

I was going to respond with a discourse on the virtue of an income tax in preference to most other forms of taxation. But as it turns out, property taxes don’t work this way, at least on average. According to the school district:

Once approved, levy and bond amounts cannot be increased. When community property values increase, the amount paid per $1,000 decreases.

So as the total valuation of property in the district increases, the rate of the levy decreases to keep the actual funds raised constant. Or course, if your house valuation goes up 20% while everyone else’s stays fixed, you get zapped while all your neighbors pay slightly less.