Pasco School Superintendent Hill has an informative slide presentation available at www.psd1.org and good arguments are presented for the levy but I found the statistics provided incomplete. Information on total revenue (state, federal and local levy taxes) going to operate Pasco schools is missing but the information is available at www.k12.wa.us/safs. The data reveal some salient facts.

Looking back over the past 10 years, expenditures in dollars per student have increased 29 percent. The consumer price index has increased by 24 percent over that same period. Although slightly over the rate of inflation, it is clear the Pasco school district has been an excellent steward of taxpayer dollars in maintaining education costs per student near the rate of inflation, all while managing a doubling of student enrollment over this same time period. I cannot readily identify another publicly funded institution controlling costs this effectively. That datum alone has secured my vote for the levy renewal.

Less clear is property assessment data that determine the total levy tax collected. Over the last four years, increases in assessed property values combined with levy rate changes resulted in a 48 percent increase in taxes collected. The assessor's website provides no detail on how that happened during a national recession and housing financial crisis.

Pete McGrail, Pasco