Local funding for public schools in West Virginia comes from two types of levies — a “regular” levy and an “excess” levy. The “regular” levy provides funding according to state code, but does not provide funds for librarians, nurses, art teachers, music teachers, custodians, instructional assistants, coaches and extracurricular advisors. State code also does not allow the “regular” levy to provide funds for school resource officers (law enforcement), behavioral and mental health support, or classroom technology support. The “excessl” levy allows localities to fund these programs as well as to support teacher training, dental and vision benefits to employees, and salary enhancements that supplement teacher pay.
The levy on the 2024 ballot would provide a minimum of $25.4 million dollars each year for five years to fund specific programs and personnel positions in the schools. The levy also designates $40,000 each year to help fund 4H programs, $90,000 to help fund the local public libraries, and a $40,000 contribution each year to help maintain playgrounds at the schools and county parks.
The first year of the renewed levy would run from July 1 2026 to June 30 2027. The current additional levy that was approved in 2020 runs until June 30 2026. The levy renewal is on the ballot this year because of a recent change to state law removing the option to have the levy on a special election ballot, so this fall is the only election date available before the current levy authorization expires.
Any amount raised from the levy above $25.5 million each year would be designated according to a formula that directs 80 percent of any “excess” amount collected to be paid out as supplemental pay to certified teachers and support staff. These “excess levy” paychecks are issued three times a year and act as a de facto locality pay boost that helps offset some of Jefferson County Schools’ pay scale disadvantage compared to the wealthier neighboring counties in Maryland and Virginia.
The levy authorization on the ballot would keep the tax rate unchanged from the current 2020 levy. For residential property, the additional levy rate would remain at 0.4590 cents per $100 dollars of assessed value (or 0.00459 times the total assessed value). In Jefferson County, the assessed value for tax purposes is 60 percent of the total assessed value. For example, a personal residence that was valued at $350,000 in 2020 would have had an assessed value for tax purposes of $210,000 and the additional levy tax would have been $964. If the value of that residence increases to $400,000, the assessed value would be $240,000 and the additional annual levy tax would increase by $138.
By Steve Pearson