The Pasco School District did not waste any time deciding to put a narrowly-rejected levy back before voters. 

One day before the Franklin County auditor certified the Feb. 10 election in which 50.27% of voters rejected the four-year renewal of the Educational Programs & Operations levy, the district’s board of directors gave consensus during a special meeting that it wanted the levy on the ballot for an April 28 special election.

How much to ask for on the second try was a less unified decision.

All the proposed levy rates considered by the board were below the rate on the ballot in February. But board members Heather Kubalek and Scott Lehrman voiced support during the board’s Feb. 24 regular meeting for an option that would require the district to cut $2 million from its budget annually, the equivalent of more than 20 full-time staff.

“Yes, there’s an emotional part of this, people are people, but the important thing is to pass a levy,” Lehrman said

However, nearly all comments from the public at the meeting voiced support for a levy rate of $2.08 per $1,000 of assessed property value, which would not require further budget cuts nor increase taxes compared to what will be collected in 2026.

In the end, the board voted 3-1, with Lehrman joining board members John Kennedy and Amanda Brown in agreeing to put a levy before voters in April that will cost an estimated $2.08-per-$1,000. For the owners of a $400,000 home, it would cost about $830 a year.

Kubalek was the lone dissenting vote. Board member Steve Norberg was absent.

“The amount of property tax relief that a $1.99 (rate) would provide the average homeowner, I believe does not justify the extensive cuts that we would have to implement to our levy supported programming and staff,” Kennedy said.

The district anticipated it would collect $35 million if voters passed the February levy, which would have an estimated rate of $2.17-per-$1,000 of assessed property value, beginning in 2027. It also would provide the district with roughly $15 million in levy equalization dollars from the state. Those funds then go toward staff and programs not funded by state appropriations, such as music, athletics, security staff and school nurses.

The rejection was the first time in more than 20 years that Pasco voters turned down the levy.

District officials told the board that the estimated levy rate would not need to be as high as on the February ballot to keep the district’s budget flat.

Updated property assessments showed more growth than planned for, meaning the $2.08-per-$1,000 rate, the current rate for the 2026 tax year, would be sufficient to collect the $35 million being asked of taxpayers.

Setting an estimated levy rate at $1.99-per-$1,000 would mean the district could expect to collect up to $34 million from the levy in 2027. That rate would cut property taxes for a home assessed at $400,000 by less than $40 per year.

Combined with the estimated decline in levy equalization funds, the district would have $2 million less per year to cover levy-funded programs and staff. That would be in addition to another $4 million in budget reductions the district has identified going forward by reducing staff through attrition and other efficiencies.

Everyone on the board agreed that increasing voter turnout is critical to getting the levy passed on a second go-around. Brown said she spoke with leaders in the Kiona-Benton City and Kennewick school districts about how their levy failures impacted their operations and worried about the loss of funding could critically hamper popular student programs.

She and Kennedy said that $2.08-per-$1,000 rate was the best option, as it would maintain current funding levels without increasing the tax burden.

Kubalek acknowledged the importance of voter turnout, commenting that the election, which had 25% voter turnout, was the lowest voter turnout in 16 years on ballots with school-related measures.

She and Lehrman acknowledged that there are families struggling and voters who want more accountability, and the district needs to take that into consideration.

“I think the $1.99 is a reasonable ask,” Kubalek said.

Behr Turner, a district resident who wrote the con statement for the levy in the voter’s pamphlet, was the lone individual to speak against running the levy at the $2.08-per-$1,000 rate. He said the growth of the district’s budget continually outpaces the growth in area incomes, there are unnecessary staff such as instructional specialists, and he alluded to the average teacher salary being inflated.

But Kennedy and members of the public said that running a levy that would require cuts would be a hard sell.

“I think it’s going to be a challenge to convince reluctant yes voters to support when we still have to make cuts without much benefit to tax relief,” Kennedy said.

Go to: psd1.org/departments/finance/levy2026.