North Clackamas School District Sends Levy To Voters

The North Clackamas School District will ask voters to hike their property taxes this fall, in part to offset the rising costs of employee pensions.

In his budget message last spring, North Clackamas Superintendent Matt Utterback warned of short falls due to "massive [Public Employee Retirement System] increases on the horizon and the likelihood of inadequate state funding." In the next sentence, Utterback said he planned to ask the school board to put a local option on the ballot.

Close to 20 Oregon school districts have such levies, including urban districts like Portland and Beaverton, and rural schools like Pendleton and Philomath. Oregon school districts have been relatively successful in getting voters to approve such measures, with 23 out of 27 levies passing in the last five years, according to a summary by the Oregon School Boards Association.

The North Clackamas board's levy will be the first in recent memory in the 17,000-student district. The measure will appear on the November 2018 ballot.

In spite of Utterback's framing of the financial challenge as an employee retirement issue, the North Clackamas FAQ site said the rising pension costs are "not a majority" of the $17 million ask. North Clackamas officials said they're seeing other staffing costs go up – like health insurance – while state funding is not keeping pace.

The revenue picture in North Clackamas is further constrained by a demographic dip. Student enrollment fell by the equivalent of 400 students last year, translating to a loss of about $3 million under Oregon's per-student funding formula.

At the same time, a closer look at the district's history shows that budgets have steadily eroded one-time options to raise money. North Clackamas sold off school property last year. A $16.4 million ending fund balance is slated to shrink nearly by half to $9.8 million. Furlough days and staffing cuts are also on the table.

The district warns that if the levy doesn't pass, filling a $17 million hole could have dire consequences.

"This shortfall could not be bridged without laying off up to 170 teachers, shortening the school year by up to 34 days, or a combination of both," the district said on its FAQ page for the levy.

If voters approve the levy, that gap would close at a cost of $30 dollars per month for a median-value home in North Clackamas.