Lakeland Joint School District to float $9.52M levy in November

RATHDRUM — The Lakeland Joint School District will ask its constituents to vote on a $9.52 million-per-year, two-year supplemental levy ballot measure at the polls Nov. 5.

Superintendent Lisa Arnold, speaking Thursday at a Rathdrum Chamber of Commerce luncheon, said that was her recommendation to the Lakeland School Board.

"People think I'm crazy, but my goal is to have as many voices from this community as possible giving us input on what they're willing to support," Arnold said. "I can't think of a better date than the general election, a presidential election, so I know the voter turnout's going to be great."

Trustees of the Lakeland School Board approved the recommendation for the supplemental levy at their June 12 meeting.

If approved, the estimated average annual cost to the taxpayer on the proposed levy is $105 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, per year, based on current market conditions.

"What is now my biggest job for the next couple of months is making sure that everybody who does want to vote has accurate information so that you can make an informed decision about what you think is best for your family," Arnold said.

This levy would replace Lakeland's current $9.52 million levy, which expires at the end of the 2024-25 school year.

Supplemental levies in Idaho require a simple majority of more than 50% to be successful. If voters say yes, this levy would be used to purchase new curriculum, provide the district's safety program, support all athletics and extracurricular activities, fill the gap between what the state pays for transportation and actual costs and fill the gap between what the district receives from the state for staff compensation and what the district actually pays.

"Some people are thinking, 'Didn't we just do this? It feels like we just did this,'" Arnold said. "Well, we did just do this. We voted last time in May 2023. Idaho statute says you can only run a levy for one year or two years, and so unfortunately, we have to come back every two years."

In the last two legislative sessions, Idaho lost March and August levy election dates. Only November and May remain. Arnold said if the district waits until May 2025, the chief financial officer won't have much time to adjust the operating budget if the levy fails.

"We want to make sure that we, one, have great voter turnout, and two, have time to plan based on the result of the election," she said.

Arnold said the tax rate in Lakeland about seven years ago was $4.53 per $1,000 of taxable assessed value. It is now $1.05 per $1,000.

"It has dropped significantly," she said.

She said she wants people to know the impacts of House Bill 292 from the 2023 legislative session and House Bill 521 from the 2024 session.

House Bill 292 is a property tax relief bill; for school districts with bonds or levies on the books, HB292 funds will reduce patrons' total tax contribution toward the levy. Lakeland paid off its bonds, so all of the money will go to property tax relief from the 2023 levy.

"It's important that patrons know the state is paying part of that bill for you," Arnold said.

HB521 provides $1 billion to schools for facilities upgrades. Lakeland decided to take a lump sum of roughly $18 million over 10 years that will allow the district to fully utilize the funds for capital improvements. Those improvements must have useful lives of seven years or more, so the funding would not be available for routine maintenance.

"In order to do those two things, the state took away our lottery dollars and they took away our bond equalization fund, and those were buckets of money we could use to pay our facilities crew or to do the routine maintenance on our buildings, so those monies are gone," she said. "They've actually taken away the opportunity for us to take care of our buildings, so we're going to have to get creative on how we do that."

State and federal funding provides about 75% of Lakeland's operating budget.

Info: sd272.org

    The Lakeland Joint School District will ask its constituents to vote on a $9.52 million-per-year, two-year supplemental levy ballot measure at the polls Nov. 5. The district office is seen here Thursday afternoon.
  

sd272.org