Cda Levy Approved By Voters

The Coeur d’Alene School District’s $2.9 million supplemental levy was approved Tuesday.

The levy was supported by 54.8 percent of voters, and passed 3,668 to 3,017.

Two school levies in the Silver Valley passed Tuesday.

The supplemental levy proposal in Coeur d’Alene was resisted by the Kootenai County Property Owners Association, which took out advertisements opposing the levy in local newspapers.

Since a $2.5 million supplemental levy two years ago, the state has dedicated an additional $142 million to education. Levy opponent and association president Ron Rankin argued that the district does not need additional money.

The majority of voters disagreed with him.

Earlier Tuesday, Superintendent Doug Cresswell expressed hope that Rankin’s advertisement would not dissuade voters from supporting the levy.

He said the ad was misleading.

“We hope people will study the facts and base their decision on the need and how it will help the district, and not on the information that Ron presented,” Cresswell said.

The opposition did not change the levy campaign strategy, however.

The campaign committee distributed fact sheets to all parents and registered voters in the district, organized a phone tree to remind residents to vote, and purchased pro-levy radio and newspaper advertisements.

The district also increased the number of polling places to make voting more convenient. This was the first year that residents could register at the polls to vote.

Rankin said this election signifies a change in the focus of the property owners association. From now on, the group will concentrate more on local tax issues than statewide issues.

In Kellogg, a $689,000 supplemental levy passed in every precinct. Out of 950 votes, 581 votes, or 61 percent, were in favor.

Wallace voters passed a two-year $675,000 per year levy with 65 percent of the vote.

In that election, 383 voters supported the levy, and 214 opposed it.