Higher Ed Chiefs Grim Over Tax Cap One Percent Initiative Would Mean Deep Cuts For Bsu And Lcsc, Presidents Say

Presidents at Boise State University and Lewis-Clark State College have some dire forecasts for faculty members if voters opt for the One Percent Initiative.

Boise State would have to slash enrollment, eliminate colleges or jack up fees if the ballot measure to limit property taxes is approved by voters in November, President Charles Ruch said Monday.

In his opening address to about 600 faculty members, staff and students, Ruch said the proposal could frame Boise State’s future.

“The short-term impact of this initiative would be devastating on this institution,” he said. “The long-term impact would offer little hope for restoration.”

Initiative sponsor Ron Rankin of Coeur d’Alene said the results will not be as bad as forecast and has accused opponents of distortion.

He argued that covering the costs of the public schools financing shift would only be about $140 million. But that is just the basic operating levy charges now covered by property tax. The attorney general has said the way Rankin worded his proposal, it also requires the state to take over another $88 million in financing for facilities.

The initiative, which will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot, would cap property taxes at 1 percent of taxable value and immediately shift $228 million in local property tax support for public schools to the state treasury.

Gov. Phil Batt, who opposes the initiative, has said if it passes, it will be a tax shift, not a tax cut. Batt said other taxes would have to be increased, undermining the premise the state Board of Education and the university and college presidents have been promoting about drastic cuts in state support.

But even with Batt’s approach, many fear that higher education, which has already seen its share of state tax revenues decline in the past decade from 15.5 percent to 12.6 percent, will face even more resistance in the annual scramble for state budget support.

Boise State could lose $16.1 million, Ruch warned, if other taxes are not raised to cover the property tax shift. A school report predicted a 78 percent increase in student fees - an increase of $1,600 over current fees for in-state students.

Other impacts could involve reducing enrollment by 25 percent, which would mean denying admission to 4,000 of the 15,000 students.

Another route is cutting the entire state-appropriated budget for Boise State intercollegiate athletics and closing three of its six academic colleges.

“One of the scariest things about the One Percent Initiative is that nobody really knows what it will do,” Lewis-Clark President James Hottois said.

But he has no doubt it would devastate the college, which has seen enrollment rise 10 percent since last year.

In earlier reports to the state Board of Education, the University of Idaho said the worst case would mean a cut of 2,900 students with faculty and staff reduced by a fourth.

Idaho State University predicted a one-third cut in faculty and enrollment.