CDA SCHOOL LEVY: Vote yes

As a voter who is mindful of fiscal responsibility, I look for value when it comes to deciding which boxes I check when I visit the polls. As such, I am proud to Vote Yes on May 16 as I see it as an opportunity to reward The Coeur d’Alene School District 271 for running a lean operation and being a good steward of my hard-earned tax dollars. Want proof of this? Idaho ranks 50th in per-pupil spending and Coeur d’Alene School taxpayers enjoy levy rates near the very bottom of the state. The May 16 supplemental levy request will increase the property taxes on the Coeur d’Alene home by $6 per month which is impressive given what has happened to wages and costs of goods since the last levy was passed. Voting YES to this levy still allows us to keep our property taxes at some of the lowest in the U.S. while also ensuring our kids have a well-rounded education.

I studied the narrative that Idaho pays more of their median household income on education than the national average. I realized this claim falsely assumes that each taxpayer pays the full $8,000 of one student. However, it’s well-known that taxpayers far outnumber students and that the $8,000 per pupil is shared among multiple taxpayers.

Voters deserve to know that Coeur d’Alene School taxpayers are paying one of the lowest levy rates in the state. The Coeur d’Alene School levy rate is the third lowest of Idaho’s largest school districts. The only “large districts” with levy rates that are lower than Coeur d’Alene are Post Falls, which has half the students of Coeur d’Alene, and Oneida which has 80% fewer students than Coeur d’Alene.

We all enjoy lower taxes in Idaho and that has not happened by osmosis. It has been the result of fiscal conservatism for decades, all while we as a community have passed these levies time after time. Please join me in voting Yes on May 16.

JIMMY McANDREW

Hayden