Registered voters in the Boistfort, Centralia and Onalaska school districts will soon receive ballots by mail for the Feb. 10 Lewis County special election.
Ballots will be mailed to voters on Jan. 21.
The three school districts are looking to pass replacement educational programs and operations levy. These propositions authorize the school districts to levy excess taxes to replace an expiring levy to support the districts’ educational programs and operations, which are either not funded or not fully funded by the state.
The Centralia School District’s proposed three-year levy includes a total of $7,150,000 in 2026 for collection in 2027, $7,640,000 in 2027 for collection in 2028, and $8,157,000 in 2028 for collection in 2029. If approved, the tax rate would be set at $1.70 per $1,000 of assessed valuation in 2026 and raise to $1.75 per $1,000 in 2027 and $1.80 per $1,000 in 2028.
Centralia’s levy passed with 56.17% of voters approving the measure in the Feb. 13, 2024, special election. The ballot measure marked the school district’s third attempt to pass a replacement levy since February 2023.
The Boistfort School District’s proposed two-year levy includes a total of $250,000 in 2026 for collection in 2027, and $250,000 in 2027 for collection in 2028. The estimated levy rate for the 2026 levy is $0.87 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, according to the resolution approved by the Boistfort school board.
Boistfort’s levy was approved by the voters in the Feb. 13, 2024, special election, with 196 voters in favor, or 67.12%, in favor and 96 voters, or 32.88%, in opposition.
The Onalaska School District’s proposed four-year levy includes a total of $1,407,426 in 2026 for collection in 2027, $1,449,649 in 2027 for collection in 2028, $1,493,138 in 2028 for collection in 2029, and $1,537,932 in 2029 for collection in 2029. The levy rate is estimated to be $0.95 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Onalaska’s levy failed in the April 22, 2025, special election, with 979 voters, or 55.28%, against the measure and 792 voters, or 44.72%, in favor. This marked the second straight failure of the levy as voters turned it down in the Feb. 11, 2025, special election by a much narrower margin — 778 (51.87%) against and 722 (48.13%) in support.
On Jan. 9, 251 ballots will be mailed to all military and overseas voters. The advanced mailing provides voters in the military or overseas with time to receive their ballot, learn about the candidates and/or issues, and return their ballot in a timely manner.
For military and overseas voters, the date on the ballot declaration associated with the voter’s signature determines the validity of the ballot. The signature on the ballot declaration must be dated no later than Election Day and must be received in this office one day prior to certification of the election. Voted ballots returned by fax or email is available to military and overseas voters only and must be received no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Voters can check their voter registration status and voter registration address and register to vote online at www.votewa.gov.
For more information on the current election, visit https://tinyurl.com/y65jzxfm.
