School levy scheduled for March
(Photo by Rose Shababy) Downed tree in front of Bonners Ferry Middle School
BONNERS FERRY — A maintenance and operations levy for the Boundary County School District goes before voters on March 9, with many residents for and against the levy.
The M & O levy bond failed to pass in November by about 500 votes, denying a funding mechanism that traditionally brings in over $2.4 million for the Boundary County School District.
“We will go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate where to go next. The cuts to the district, if we do not have local M & O dollars, will be deep.” BCSD superintendent Jan Bayer said.
The school district will have to work collaboratively with the community stakeholders to figure out the next steps to cover the fiscal deficit from a lack of a levy if not passed in March.
According to information on the BCSDs website, the M & O levy helps bridge the gap between state and federal funding.
1 out of 5 dollars the school district spends comes from the local levy that taxes $187 per $100,000 of assessed property value. The school district has not chosen to increase the levy.
Forty-five of Idaho’s 115 school districts will run ballot measures totaling more than $298.2 million in the greater scheme.
West Bonner County has a two-year, $6.87 million supplemental levy. An increase from the district’s existing $3 million-a-year levy. Boundary County has a levy that is just $4.8 million for the two years.
According to resident and parent Buddy Larsen, “I’ve already paid for schools through taxes my whole life, and now I’m paying double to homeschool my kids. I don’t vote for taxes or levies ever, I don’t care who it’s supposed to benefit.”
Other residents like Lynn Kalb Stone stated their support for the levy, “The bottom line is the schools need money to operate.”
In a Facebook comment made by Ashley Wiltse Solomon, “So now they want a revote because they know less people will show up and have a better chance of passing it. Because people like me really don't wanna pencil this in and vote again, and the only people that do are the ones who want it to pass.”
Many community members reiterated that individual schools need repairs, and delaying them would cost the school district and residents much more in the long run.