School Board adopts annual budget, tax questions remain

La Conner Schools adopted a new budget and logo during a two-hour session on Monday, but more time, with a pressing deadline looming ahead, will be needed to solve tax shortfalls created by the so-called Great Wolf Lodge decision by a federal court.

First, the good news.

Board members approved a 2015-16 budget, bolstered by increased state money and federal impact aid revenue, that anticipates a $1.3 million ending fund balance.

“I feel very positive about this budget,” Business Manager Bonnie Haley said during the public hearing portion of the meeting. “Our fund balance has grown and is equal to two months of payroll, which is great.”

Much of the additional state revenue will go toward salaries, with another $775,000 commitment from lawmakers in the wake of Great Wolf earmarked for energy conservation to trim utility costs, Superintendent Tim Bruce said.

The funding addresses two key areas.

“There have been a lot of efforts to bring salaries up to what our neighboring districts are doing,” said Bruce. “Otherwise it’s hard to attract the faculty that we want.

“The $775,000,” he added, “is a capital expenditure, and we have to spend it for our reimbursement. It’s a lot better than nothing, even though it has to go for building improvement.”

Less certain is the level and duration of school funding from Swinomish Tribal Community, which has proposed a one-year $400,000 contribution, which would offset half the revenue lost when Shelter Bay and Pull-and-Be-Damned homes on the reservation were stricken from county property tax rolls this year. The tax shortfall occurred after a federal court ruled that all structures on tribal trust land are immune from state and county taxes, regardless of who owns the buildings.

About two-thirds of La Conner’s students live on land that is tax exempt.

Knowing the degree of Swinomish participation is necessary in order for La Conner Schools to craft its February 2016 maintenance and operations levy, said Bruce.

“Hopefully, we’ll get to the negotiation table, and things will clear up quite a bit,” he said. “We need to nail down what that Tribal piece will look like, so we’re looking to make some headway.”

The goal, Bruce said at a prior budget workshop, would be for those talks to conclude by November at the latest.

They will go a long way toward determining whether La Conner Schools proposes a two-year, three-year, or four-year levy this winter, he said.

“The bottom line,” said Bruce, “is there are a lot of things we have to do in the next three months.”

Bruce said La Conner Schools and the Tribal Community have already teamed up to secure an early childhood education grant that nearly doubles what the district would have received through the Head Start program.

He said Tribal Senate chairman Brian Cladoosby, president of the National Congress of American Indians, has offered to lobby in Washington, D.C. for increased Public Law 874 federal impact aid support going forward.

Dialogue between La Conner Schools and Swinomish also led Monday to the unveiling of a new district logo.

Make that a new “old” logo.

“We’re reaching back into our past,” Bruce explained, “with a logo that matches the center circle from the old gym.”

It features an interlocking L and C in the middle, encircled by the title “La Conner Schools.”

“It doesn’t say La Conner School District, and that’s intentional,” said Bruce. “We felt ‘La Conner Schools’ projects more of a community than organizational image — that these are the community’s schools. This is the direction other districts are going. I know it’s what Bellingham is doing.”

Nor is there an image of a Native American brave or warrior on the logo.

“The Tribe asked us not to use one,” Bruce said. “They support the use of ‘Braves’ for our sports teams, as long as it’s written out. Just no images or caricatures.”