School levy passes on second try

BONNERS FERRY — Boundary County School District's maintenance and operation levy passed Tuesday, March 9, with 51% in favor. The district previously ran the levy in November but it failed to garner enough support.

The levy passed with 1,051 votes in favor and 995 votes against. Voter turnout was 27%, a drastic decrease from the previous November election’s 87% turnout.

According to BCSD Superintendent Jan Bayer, the state allows school districts to run a levy up to four times during a year. If needed, the district will run a levy election if it fails to do everything they can to provide for students’ academic needs, Bayer said.

In November, the replacement levy failed by about 500 votes, with 2,802 voting in favor of and 3,320 voting against the replacement levy.

If the levy failed, it would have denied a funding mechanism that traditionally brings over $2.4 million a year for the Boundary County School District.

According to information on the BCSDs website, the M & O levy helps bridge the gap between state and federal funding.

One 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 School District saw its two-year, $6.87-million supplemental levy fail, receiving only 47 percent support. While an increase over the previous levy, WBCSD officials said an increase in property values was behind the higher levy amount.

Coeur d’Alene School District's two-year, $40 million supplemental levy passed with 60 percent of the vote. Voters renewed the state’s largest supplemental levy, which makes up about one-fourth of the North Idaho district’s annual budget.

Bayer thanked voters for their support, saying school board trustees are focused on fiscal responsibility and making decisions in students' interest and wanted to thank the public for their support.

“Thank you, Boundary County, for your continued support,” she added.