Kanawha County School Levy Is on Tuesday's Ballot: What a Renewal Would Mean for 23,000 Students

Kanawha County voters have a big decision waiting for them at the bottom of Tuesday's ballot. Along with the races up top, folks in the state's largest school district will be asked once again whether to renew the Kanawha County Schools excess levy, a local property tax that voters have approved again and again since 1937.

School leaders and supporters are quick to stress what this vote is and what it is not. It is a renewal of the levy already on the books, not a brand-new tax, and it would not raise the existing levy rate. Because the amount anyone pays is tied to assessed property values, individual tax bills can still move up or down as those values change.

The levy runs on five-year cycles. The current one expires June 30, 2029, so Tuesday's question covers the next stretch, the fiscal years beginning July 1, 2029, through July 1, 2033. If voters say yes, the levy is estimated to bring in about $32.87 million a year.

That money matters. The levy pays for roughly 22 percent of the school system's budget, a little under a quarter of everything it spends. Kanawha County Schools runs 67 schools serving more than 23,000 students, the biggest public school system in West Virginia.

According to the ballot language and district officials, levy dollars help cover salaries and benefits for teachers, nurses, counselors, aides, clerks and bus drivers, along with safety and security staff, including the district's 12 school security officers. The levy also pays for building upkeep and utilities, roofing and HVAC replacements, equipment and bus maintenance, security upgrades, playground improvements, and a long list of extracurriculars, from coaching supplements and athletic trainers to athletic facility work. The ballot also states that no levy money would go to public charter schools.

A volunteer committee backing the renewal has spent months making its case around the county and says it has seen strong community support so far. To pass, the measure needs a simple majority of votes cast.

Kanawha voters will see a second, separate levy question too. The public library levy would also be renewed at its existing rate and is estimated to provide about $3.18 million a year for the Kanawha County Public Library system and its branches, plus the South Charleston and Nitro public libraries, for the fiscal years beginning in 2030 through 2034. Voters can approve either measure, both, or neither.

On the ballot, those who want to keep the levies going fill in the oval marked "For the Levies," and those opposed fill in "Against the Levies."

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Whichever way you lean, this one touches nearly every classroom, school bus and ball field in the county, so it is worth a careful read before you head to the polls.