Lakeland levy vote Tuesday

RATHDRUM - Voters in the Lakeland Joint School District will consider a two-year supplemental levy Tuesday.

The levy amount is $4.795 million per year for two years, which is a reduction of $155,000 per year (3.1 percent) from the current levy.

The owner of a $200,000 home would pay $275.23 per year ($22.94 per month) to fund the levy. That would be a reduction of $11.72 per year from the current levy.

Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. A simple majority vote (50 percent, plus one) is needed for the proposal to pass.

Tom Taggart, the district's finance director, said the funding is intended to supplement money received from the state and would be spent on programs and supplies throughout the district.

Without the funds, the district would need to cut 20 percent of its General Fund budget. The cuts would mean reducing staff and programs and larger class sizes. District officials believe test scores would be negatively impacted as a result.

"We would have to look at everything we do (as far as considering cuts)," Taggart said. "Closing a school would be a last-resort step. There has not been any plan discussed to close a school and certainly not any specific school.

"The bulk of our budget is paying staff. We are a people business. We would need to make significant cuts in FTEs (full-time equivalent personnel), pay, benefits and programs."

Taggart said voters have been "very quiet" in the days leading up to the election.

"We've been sending out information and answering questions," he said. "There has been a real positive reaction that we're turning a corner and asking for less (supplemental) money.

"We are focused on the positive. We continue to do an excellent job educating our students. Our local taxpayers stepped up when asked to help fill the gaps left by state and federal cuts. We are now seeing improved funding from the state and believe we need to start reducing our levy."

Taggart said if the levy doesn't pass, the district's first discussion would be whether another levy should be floated in May or August.

"That discussion would look at the margin of defeat and any feedback received," Taggart said. "The board then would make a decision on re-running on a new date and whether the amount should be reduced."

District officials say they believe the levy proposal takes into account the increase in state funding and the district's desire to keep test scores higher, offer smaller classes and loosen the tax burden on homeowners.

Taggart said districts are expected to receive an increase in funding from the state, but multiple factors are preventing Lakeland from returning to the days in which no levies, or only much-smaller levies for specific projects, were needed.

Lakeland's student enrollment, which determines how much the district will receive from the state, has declined from 4,444 in fiscal 2008 to 4,078 this year. The opening of the new charter school in Rathdrum and families moving out of the district to be closer to work have been cited by the district as some of reasons for the decline.

Meanwhile, reductions in federal programs are expected to continue and district costs such as utilities, wages and benefits have increased.

Lakeland voters approved the past three supplemental levy proposals, but the margin has gone down each time. In 2008, a levy was passed with 76 percent approval; in 2010, 69 percent; and in 2012, 52.7 percent.

Those numbers are part of the reason school officials backed off a levy proposal for $4.95 million - the same amount as the current levy - before opting to send Tuesday's smaller proposal to voters.

To find your polling place, visit www.kcgov.us/elections/search. Call 687-0431 or email levyquestions@lakeland272.org if you have questions.

The Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene school districts won't float supplemental levies this year as voters in those districts approved levies last year.