Voters reject the majority of bond levy requests School construction and remodeling money in Washington is scarce. In an average year they rejected about 60 percent of requests. The state supplements money raised by school districts according to a statutory formula designed to provide the average district with half its capital needs. Currently, state matching funds average about 30 percent of total construction costs. Districts qualify for state aid based on their need to house more pupils and on their ability to raise enough money to cover their share of project costs.
Many districts receive no state funds.
The state draws the money it uses to subsidize school construction and remodeling from the Common School Construction Fund, which is fed mainly by revenue from the sale of timber on state lands. Since 1982, this revenue has failed to provide enough state-matching funds. Since 1990, the Legislature has augmented the construction fund with appropriations from the general fund. Sometimes the state has been unable to provide enough money to subsidize all the school-district projects that are eligible for state matching funds. This occurred seven times during the past 15 years, the most recent of which was 1995.