March 12 is the day to vote on the proposed Lake Pend Oreille School District levy, which is for the staggering sum of $15,767,484. It is intended to cover 2013 and 2014, with $7,883,742 each.

The levy presentations given by the school district omit the fact that this is, once again, a record amount for its levy. But it’s quite easy to verify on the Public Finance section of the Idaho Department of Education’s website. There, you’ll find LPOSD levy amounts dating back to 2000. In that year, the levy was a “mere” $1,260,000.

Since then, LPOSD’s levies have been on an uninterrupted upward trajectory, culminating in the current proposed amount of $7,883,742. Compared to 2011, that’s a 15.5 percent increase. Compared to 2000, it’s an increase of more than 500 percent. When is this going to stop? Whenever enough people choose to vote no on this levy.

Louis Perry

Sandpoint