6 school districts gear up for levies

School districts across North Idaho are preparing for something that has proven difficult for some in the past: asking voters to pay more of their property taxes to schools.

Six districts – Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai, West Bonner, Lake Pend Oreille, Wallace and Boundary – have levies coming up, and two others – Post Falls and St. Maries – are early in the planning stages. Plummer-Worley has yet to decide if it will seek one this year.

All but West Bonner are going for renewals of supplemental maintenance and operation levies that fund school programs and other operational needs not covered by state money.

West Bonner will present a $23 million building levy May 15 that would fund a major renovation of Priest River Junior High, a new gym and more classrooms at Priest River Lamanna High, and a new gym at Priest River Elementary. The money would also build a new 200-student elementary school.

Even if the levies are approved, voters in each district should expect to give much less of their property tax to schools than in previous years because the state Legislature in August moved a big portion of school funding from property tax to increased sales tax.

The Coeur d’Alene School Board will meet Tuesday evening to set the amount of the levy and the date of the public vote. The two-year levy would replace the $14.6 million levy passed in 2005 that expires this year.

The district will ask the school board to set the levy amount at $17.6 million over a two-year period.

Coeur d’Alene voters have approved maintenance and operation levies every two years for the past 20 years, but the defeat of the building construction levy last May and a subsequent community survey sent a strong message to district officials that voters were incensed by the tax climate and wanted more communication with the district.

The district surveyed community members in December about the programs they’d like the levy to fund, and a forum was held in January. Board members are leery of asking for more than the current levy amount, but the $2.1 million cut from this year’s budget prompted some at the workshop to call for the new amount to cover the expiring levy as well as the recent cuts.

The expiring levy accounts for about 13 percent of the district’s budget. Should the upcoming levy fail, the district would be forced to make massive cuts. District Business Manager Steve Briggs told the school board recently.

In Boundary County, voters will be asked March 20 to replace a two-year maintenance and operation levy that’s expiring this year. The district has historically had a very tough time passing levies, with districts having to reintroduce levies in 2004 and 2005 after voters first rejected them.

When a one-year maintenance levy passed during the second vote in 2004 by just 12 votes, levy opponents asked police to investigate fraudulent vote counting by the school district.

The police investigation found no wrongdoing.

The district’s Board of Trustees is expected to set the amount of its levy at its meeting Feb. 26.

Lake Pend Oreille School District voters will decide March 20 whether to give $8.9 million over the next two years to replace an expiring $6.4 million maintenance and operation levy.

The money would pay for classroom materials, kitchen equipment at the schools, two school buses and five new employees in the technology department, among other thing.

Voters rejected the Sandpoint-area district’s last levy in November, a $12.6 million building construction levy. The district hasn’t passed a construction levy since 1985 but has had better luck with maintenance and operations levies, passing them every two years for the last several years.

For more details on the replacement levy up for vote next month, visit the district’s Web site at www.sd84.k12.id.us/.

The Wallace School Board will meet today at 10 a.m. for a budget workshop to discuss a maintenance and operation levy. Superintendent Bob Ranells expects the board to set the details sometime next week.

Voters in the Kootenai School District will decide March 12 whether to give $540,000 over the next two years to replace an expiring maintenance and operation levy.

The Plummer-Worley District has yet to decide if they’ll run a levy; Post Falls and St. Maries are still in the planning stages and no dates have been set.

Kellogg passed a two-year levy last year, and the Lakeland district has no levy to replace.