The Maple Valley City Council decided during its Jan. 8 meeting to support all three of the levies proposed by the Tahoma School District on a majority vote.

The levies include one bus levy and two replacement — technology and educational program — levies, according to the district.

The bus levy will cost about $2 million, according to a media release by the Tahoma School District in December. This would pay for around 15 busses and would be collected in the 2019 and 2020 tax years.

The proposed levies would be collected over a four-year period, the release said, beginning in 2019. The levies would replace the existing levies, EP&O (Educational Programs and Operations) levy and technology levy, at a lower tax rate and would provide funds for equipment, services and staff positions that do not receive state funding.

During the council meeting, there was a lot of discussion about why they should support these levies. 

Mayor Sean P. Kelly excused himself from the discussion because he works for the school district. He said he felt it would not be fair to put his opinion into the matter at hand. Deputy Mayor Dana Parnello took over the meeting once Kelly stepped out.

Councilmember Megan Sheridan had the most questions, some of which were regarding the reserves and how these levies will affect them and also about the transportation levy. She wanted to know what the transportation money would be going toward — would it fix broken busses or bring in new busses or both.

Lori Cloud, assistant superintendent, attended the council meeting. She said the transportation levy would help fix old busses and bring in new ones if needed.

“In discussing reserves you really have two possible concerns. One would say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, your reserves are so high and have so much money then why are you asking for more?’ and that clearly turned out not to be the case because the reserves are not high. And the other would be, ‘Well hey, wait a minute, if the reserves are so low then why are they so low and should that be a concern and are you running these levies to build up your reserves?’ and that also clearly appeared to be not the case,” Parnello said in a phone interview. 

At the end of the lengthy discussion, the council came to a decision to support the levies. 

Councilmembers Linda Olsen and Sheridan both decided to abstain, making the final vote 4-2.

“To me it was a slam-dunk, if you look at it from a variety of different angles, it makes sense,” Parnello said. “The school district is the city’s number one employer, so supporting that (the levies) makes a lot of sense. To me, there was no downside to saying ‘yes’.”

For more information on these levies, you can go to http://www.maplevalleyreporter.com/news/tahoma-school-district-proposes-three-new-levies/ or visit the Tahoma School District website.