Cd'A voters to decide on supplemental levy

Voters in the Coeur d'Alene School District will be asked in March to continue supporting the public school system with local property taxes.

But the amount of support the school board will request - in the form of a two-year supplemental maintenance and operations levy - has not yet been decided.

The last such levy was approved by voters in March 2013 and will expire June 30.

For two years, that levy has added $12.9 million per year in local property taxes to the school district budget.

The voter-approved funding mechanism, built into the state education code, is called "supplemental," because it is in addition to state funding school districts also receive.

"Really, it's been called a supplemental levy, but as we know, it's sort of built into an essential levy, to our operations," Superintendent Matt Handelman told Coeur d'Alene school trustees when they met last week.

Handelman said the levy pays for a long list of items not provided through state funding. Classroom supplies, class sizes, technology, transportation, libraries, student activities and athletics, playground supervision, student safety and health, and building and grounds maintenance are some of the areas that rely on levy funds.

The current levy of $12.9 million per year was 21 percent of the school district's general fund in 2013. Handelman said this highlights the essential nature of the levy dollars, and shows how dependent the district is on the funds.

"I can't say that we're proud of it, but it's a reality," Handelman said.

State education funding is slowly beginning to rise again, after massive cuts that occurred during the recent recession. But the costs of school operations have increased since then also, Handelman said.

If the trustees decide to maintain the current $12.9 million two-year levy for another two years, taxpayers in the Coeur d'Alene School District are projected to pay a total school tax of $2.07 per $1,000 of taxable assessed property value. That consists of $1.69 for the supplemental levy, one cent for a mandatory tort levy, and 37 cents for a construction bond approved by voters in 2012. For the owner of a $200,000 home, after the 2015 homeowner's exemption is applied, the annual school tax - if the levy amount remains the same - is estimated to cost $15.55 per month, or $186.63 annually.

Should the trustees decide to increase the levy amount by $1 million, that same homeowner will pay $16.76 per month in school taxes, or $201.14 per year. If the levy is decreased by $1 million, that homeowner will pay $14.34 in school taxes per month, or $172.13 per year.

"The state's funding may be coming back, but...we are still at $4 million less state funding than we were in 2008," said Trustee Tom Hearn. "We have a significant gap, and unfortunately, it has to be made up by the levy."

Hearn said he is on the Idaho School Board Association's executive board and has heard horror stories from school districts that fail to pass levies.

He said he has to think about it more, but he will likely lean toward maintaining the levy amount or increasing it.

The trustees are planning to meet at 5 p.m. on Dec. 15 for a one-hour workshop that will include a detailed analysis of the district's finances and a discussion about the levy. The location of that workshop has not yet been determined.

The trustees are expected to set the levy amount at their next regular meeting on Jan. 5.