Coeur d'Alene School District trustees to hold levy forum Saturday morning

Trustees of the Coeur d'Alene School District will participate in an informal levy forum at 10 a.m. Saturday at Ramsey Park, 3525 N. Ramsey Road, Coeur d'Alene.

Guests will have opportunities to submit questions to the trustees regarding the upcoming $25 million-per-year two-year supplemental levy measure that will be on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The board will not conduct any school business at this event; no official meeting of the board will be held. This session has no agenda and no minutes will be taken.

Trustees unanimously voted during a special Aug. 28 meeting to float the supplemental levy ballot measure on election day. Trustees also discussed a possible $25.75 million-per-year, two-year levy that would have covered expected inflation costs in the next few years. By selecting the $25 million option, which replaces the current levy that expires at the end of the 2024-25 school year, district leaders will be expected to balance the district's operating budget by reducing $750,000 each year for two years to account for rising costs associated with inflation.

Property taxes are not expected to increase if the levy is approved by voters who reside in the district. The estimated average annual cost to taxpayers is about $93 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, per year, based on current market conditions.

Chair Rebecca Smith said after the Aug. 28 meeting the unanimous levy decision of the board shows how the district will move forward with strength and unity.

"It illustrates, hopefully, to our community, from the top down, that we are unified in the direction that we as a district are moving," Smith said.