Spangle Cemetery Board asking for 1 year levy to maintain pioneer burial ground

The Spangle Cemetery Board will ask voters in November to approve a one-year levy to help pay for the maintenance of the pioneer cemetery.

The levy amount would be 20 cents per $1,000 in assessed home value on residences within the cemetery district. The levy would collect $20,000 in 2025.

While the levy only collects money for one year and is not considered a renewal, the district typically asks for a repeat levy every three years. The money collected under each levy is stretched to make it last as long as possible, which is usually three years, said Treasurer Bob Sievers.

“We’re broke,” he said. “The taxes don’t keep up with the mowing and what we have to do to keep up the cemetery.”

The cemetery is located on less than 10 acres of land surrounded by farmland between Spangle Road and Old U.S. Highway 195 just south of the small town of Spangle. There are several hundred graves inside the cemetery that is both old and still active, Sievers said. “You can find people from the 1800s there,” he said.

The town of Spangle was founded in 1872 by William Spangle, a Civil War veteran.

The board hires someone to mow the grass and perform other maintenance, including making sure the sprinkler system is operating properly, Sievers said. It typically costs about $10,000 a year. “Our budget is so small, we need a little help,” he said.

It’s important to the community that the cemetery is properly looked after, Sievers said.

“It’s taken care of and that’s what we want,” he said. “There’s so many cemeteries that aren’t taken care of and that’s just sad.”

The board has been able to make do with the regular cemetery taxes and a levy every three years or so for decades. Spokane County collects the money and keeps it and Sievers submits a voucher for bills that come in, which is paid by the county using tax and levy funds. Despite this entirely hands off approach, Sievers said the cemetery is typically audited by the state every other year. Every audit costs $700, which adds to the operating expenses, Sievers said.

“We don’t have a bank account,” he said.

The maintenance levy requires a simple majority to pass. Sievers said he’s hopeful it will be approved by voters again this year.

“Out taxpayers have been great about passing it,” he said. “We have great people down in this community.”