Voters all over eastern Idaho will be going to the polls Tuesday, March 10, to decide the fate of funding for 17 school districts.
In the Pocatello-Chubbuck School District, a simple majority will be necessary for passage of a $9.25 million per year supplemental levy for two years to replace the $8.5 million per year levy that expired this current school year.
In the Gate City, the existing levy accounted for 12.3 percent of the total operating budget of $60.9 million this year. If passed, the new levy would be nearly 14 percent of next year’s projected $65.6 million budget. The largest part of the district’s operating budget is for salaries and fringe benefits.
If it passes, the levy would cost property taxpayers $1.74 more per month for every $100,000 of taxable value compared to the existing levy.
To balance the current fiscal year budget, the district used $1.5 million in reserves that no longer exist, according to District 25 Director of Business Operations Bart Reed.
Despite having a $6 million supplemental levy in place in 2010, School District 25 was forced to furlough 9.5 teacher days from contracts and cut pay 4 percent which remains in place today.
And any percentages of teacher pay increases from the state are based on a statewide base of $23,354 even though the required minimum starting salary for teachers is $31,750. District’s have to make up the difference.
“The board was very conservative,” Superintendent Mary Vagner told the Pocatello Rotary about the $9.25 million levy for the next two years last month. “That decision was difficult to make.”
To really make the district’s financial situation stable with the ability to do things like update all textbooks, Vagner said the levy would have to be $10 million per year.
Vagner said the district has managed several important achievements despite operating on a tight budget with less state support than seven years ago. These include boosting graduation rates, having staff ready to adopt Idaho common core standards and helping seniors attract $10 million in scholarship money last May.
The Pocatello-Chubbuck Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the $9.25 million March 10 levy.
Polling places will be open in the same locations as last November’s general election and will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Pocatello-Chubbuck is far from the only district seeking voter approval of additional tax funding this coming Tuesday. Statewide, $393.3 million in bond issues and school levies will be on the ballot. A shift in state law approved by the legislature three years ago only allows school districts to hold levy elections on four dates per year: the second Tuesday in March, third Tuesday in May, last Tuesday in August and first Tuesday following the first Monday in November.
School districts have to establish budgets before the beginning of their new fiscal year each July 1.
Other levies in Southeast Idaho include:
Idaho Falls School District, which is going for a supplemental levy of $6.8 million per year for two years.
Bonneville School District, a $56.1 million bond issue which requires a 66.6 percent majority approval to build a new 1,500-student high school.
Soda Springs, a $798,000 one-year supplemental levy.
Blackfoot, a $2.6 million per year, two-year levy.
American Falls, a $2.4 million per year, two-year levy.
Bear Lake, a $800,000 per year, two-year levy.
Aberdeen, a $300,000 per year, two-year levy
Snake River, a $775,000 per year, two-year levy.
West Side, a $90,000 per year, two-year levy.
North Gem, a $200,000 per year, two-year levy.
In addition, the Oneida School District is hoping to get a super majority to approve a $12.5 million bond issue to build a new elementary school.