SHORELINE, Wash. — Voters in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park will be asked next week to extend a property tax levy for one year, at a lower rate, to help the Shoreline School District overcome a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.
If approved, the District would bring in $7.25 million over two years as the property tax from $3.21 to $3.13 for every $1,000 in assessed value.
It comes as Shoreline schools have been hit by rampant inflation that has impacted the budget.
“There is no fat to cut anymore because inflation has chipped away at that,” said Malorie Larson, who wrote the supporting argument in the King County Voter Guide and is a parent of a Highland Terrace Third Grade student.
Shoreline School District is facing a $6.5 million budget shortfall.
The District and Larson point to inflation costs that have impacted utility costs (up an estimated 30% since 2019) and insurance costs (increasing 4% since 2019) across Washington’s local school districts.
In 2025, districts advocated for increased state funding that more similarly matched the historic standard.
Amid a budget shortfall, state lawmakers fell through, instead passing a compromise.
Shoreline is hoping can help its district, passing a house bill that allows districts to ask voters for a supplemental levy for educational programs.
In Shoreline’s case, the supplemental levy would collect tax revenue for an additional year in 2026.
“This levy is important for Shoreline because really, it’s the only lever we have to pull right now.” Larson said, “Our state and federal governments are not fully funding education. So this is one thing that we can do for our kids, for our community, is support the levy."
Shoreline schools says the money would help fully fund programs left short by federal and state funding, like instructional supports, classroom supports, multilingual programs, highly capable programs, and extracurricular activities in middle and high schools.
“Levies are supposed to fund the extras, but because our schools are severely underfunded, we’re filling gaps. We’re filling special education gaps, we’re filling supports in the classrooms because class sizes are getting larger, and then we’re hoping to save things like extracurriculars, the sports, the music programs.” Larson said.