Natalie Podgorski reports school districts across southern Idaho are asking voters to help boost their budgets. School levy elections are Tuesday and some districts say there could be big consequences if the levies don’t pass.
The Kuna School District is asking for a $6.38 million levy over the next two years, the largest amount this election.
“The primary focus of that is to pay for our teachers,” said Wendy Johnson, Kuna’s assistant superintendent.
The district says it has already made all the cuts it can.
“We don’t have anything left that would allow, that wouldn’t impact student safety,” said Johnson.
If the levy doesn’t pass Johnson says 25 teachers will have to be let go, class sizes will go up and some extra curricular activities will be cut.
Some voters are against raising their taxes but other say they will vote “yes” to support their kids.
“Kids can’t learn in an environment where there is too many kids, where all the teacher has to worry about is crowd control,” said Joy Garrison, a parent with several kids in the Kuna School District.
In Nampa, the district wants $3.2 million over the next two years.
“We have 2.25 million square feet of school space and the budget has been cut 60 percent over the last three or four years, and so it is really critical that we start getting some maintenance where it needs to be,” said Lynn Borud, chair of the Citizens Levy Committee.
Here is a breakdown of all seven school levies:
Kuna wants $3,190,000 per year for two years for a total of $6,380,000. The levy would cost $368 for every $100,000 worth of assessed value.
Nampa wants to renew a two-year, $1.6 million per year supplemental levy. Because it is a renewal, it will not increase property taxes. The money would go toward supplies, textbooks, technology and repairs.
Notus is asking voters to renew its current levies. There will be no tax increase associated with the levies. The first levy will go toward paying Notus’ share of the Canyon Owyhee School Services Agency or COSSA. The agency is a partnership between Homedale, Marsing, Parma, Notus and and Wilder to provide special education, gifted and talented programs as well as professional-technical classes. Notus contributes $180,000. The second levy will be up to $150,000 for plants and facilities.
Buhl is asking for $400,000 each year for the next two years. This will cause property taxes to increase $41.20 for every $100,000 in taxable value. The district says positions will have to be cut is the levy does not pass.
Wilder wants a two-year levy that would raise $310,000 each year. This will cause a property tax increase. This is the first time the district is asking for a two-year levy. If it doesn’t pass the district will have to shorten the school calender by 10 days and cut or eliminate extracurricular activities. The district has already cut its art and music programs.
Homedale wants to renew its existing 10-year COSSA operations levy. The levy cannot legally exceed 0.1 percent of a homeowner’s assessed taxable value.
The Bruneau-Grand View School District is requesting $700,000 per year for two years. This would increase property values $3.96 for every $10,000 of taxable value. If the levy does not pass, students will have to pay to play any sports, the music program will be cut district wide, and the business computers and family and consumer science class will be cut.
