What's the Deal With Our Dues Going Up?

About once or twice a year I get an email asking about the monthly dues, and I'm frankly surprised it's not a question I get more often--at better than $65 a month for a full-time employee, it's a pretty good chunk out of your salary every cycle.

I wrote back in September about what the monthly breakdown is for a full time person, but there's another perspective I'd like to offer as well--a comparison of what the yearly local dues are between us and other districts in the area. Remember, the MLEA portion of your dues is $60 a year:

Spokane: $248
West Valley: $204
East Valley: $191.40
Cheney: $216.96
Central Valley: $183.46
Mead: $272.00
Deer Park: $192
Nine Mile Falls: $120
Pullman: $90
Colville: $132
Riverside: $240
Moses Lake: $226.80
Freeman: $114.84
Grand Coulee: $120
Garfield-Palouse: $120
Liberty: $120
Newport: $84

The $60 that we charge is equal to what members pay in Republic, Ritzville, Nespelem, or Northwest Columbia, but ahead of Reardan ($36) or Davenport ($24).

We've worked really hard to keep the local portion of your dues low; we're not overly litigious, we keep our stipends meaningful but affordable, and we still provide the three $500 scholarships a year to Dollars for Scholars to assist our MLHS graduates in their post-secondary pursuits. With our declining enrollment and the concomitant decrease in the number of members our Association budget has gotten a little tighter every year, but we still have a very healthy reserve that would cover any emergencies that might come up.

If you have any questions about your dues money--where it goes and what it's used for--feel free to email or give me a call on my cell phone.

--Ryan--