If 55 percent of the people who vote on a proposed school levy on Thursday mark their ballots "yes," the Blaine County School District will be authorized to collect $59.8 million in property taxes over the next 10 years.
The proposed levy would fund new technology, security upgrades, building repairs, alternative energy development, resource conservation measures, new classrooms at Wood River Middle School and a new elementary school in the future if needed.
The district breaks down the proposed funding into three broad categories: about $10.1 million for technology enhancements, about $2.24 million for safety and security upgrades and about $47.4 million for new construction and facility improvements.
If the levy is not approved, the district might re-float the measure next spring. Otherwise, it faces rethinking its plans or dipping into a $13 million "rainy-day fund" for needed repairs at several aging school buildings. District officials claim the "rainy-day fund" is intended to prevent educational expense cuts from current and anticipated future cuts in state funding.
Opponents of the levy say the district is too focused on facilities, to the detriment of educating children. They point out that the district already spends more than twice as much per student as the state average and that the district needs to tighten its belt like everyone else during hard economic times.
Proponents of the levy say facility needs directly affect educational quality and that without the levy, needed repairs at some schools will eventually erode the educational budget, possibly leading to staff reductions and higher student-to-teacher ratios. They also claim that most of the money raised through the levy will be spent locally and will provide economic stimulus to the Wood River Valley.
The levy will not mean an increase in taxes if approved, but if it passes it will nullify a tax decrease that would otherwise occur in 2010.
The levy would replace two existing property tax assessments, an existing 10-year plant facilities levy approved by the voters in 2000 and a bond issue for building construction approved by the voters in 1993. The existing plant facilities levy will expire in July 2010 and the district expects that the bond will be repaid at about the same time.
Together the two assessments raised about $62 million during the past 10 years. The tax assessment per year to the owner of a home valued at about $420,000 was $167.
Future assessments to the same homeowner, if the levy is approved, will be $158 per year.
The proposed levy has become a hot topic in the valley. The Idaho Mountain Express has been flooded with letters either for or against its passage and has recently published several guest opinions from people well informed on the subject.
Hailey resident Bob Corker wrote in a recent guest opinion that he is opposed to the levy because "too much time is spent by our school board and our district leadership on plant and facility issues. The district just went through an unprecedented 10-year period of construction. The more you build, the more time and money is spent on upkeep."
District Superintendent Lonnie Barber wrote in another guest opinion that the levy "will ensure that we have the resources to maintain and improve our existing facilities so that they are the kind of schools that provide optimum learning conditions for our students. The facilities levy also allows the school district to maximize the use of the general fund for teacher salaries, professional development and curricular needs."
In his guest opinion, Hailey resident Ken Fox wrote that "now is not the time for questionable expenditures on a school infrastructure that has already benefited from about $60 million that we, the taxpayers, put in during the last 10 years. These are hard economic times, and few people in this valley don't know individuals who have lost their employment or had their incomes severely reduced."
School Board Chairwoman Julie Dahlgren wrote in an Other Views article that the proposed levy will "save taxpayers money by bankrolling funds for the future and guaranteeing continued excellence in education for our 3,334 students. The levy request represents a carefully researched infrastructure plan that will allow teaching and learning to flourish with the least fiscal impact."
Sun Valley resident Franz Suhadolnik criticized the district in his guest opinion for holding the election on Oct. 29, separate from the Nov. 3 general election, calling the tactic "disingenuous and unsavory. It reflects poorly on our school district and its superintendent. It sets a poor example for our children and is a questionable civics lesson."
Suhadolnik was referring to an Oct. 7 story in the Idaho Mountain Express in which Superintendent Barber acknowledged that the district intentionally scheduled the vote separate from the general election to improve the levy's chance for approval.
District Business Manager Mike Chatterton explained in an interview last week that the district has always held levy or bond elections separate from general elections. Chatterton said the district wants informed voters to cast ballots and wants to avoid "automatic" reactions from voters who don't understand the issues and just vote no to any governmental request for money.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
Levy ballot
The ballot language for the proposed Blaine County School District levy is rather straightforward. Vote yes if in favor, vote no if not. The ballot refers to the measure as the "School Plant Facilities Reserve Fund." It would authorize the district to collect $5,980,000 per year from property tax assessments, starting July 1, 2010, for the next 10 years.
The ballot states that the money would be used for "financing the costs of acquiring school sites, and/or constructing, furnishing and equipping schools, and/or making improvements to any existing building, including all lighting, heating, ventilation and sanitation facilities and appliances necessary to maintain and operate said buildings and facilities, and the purchase of school buses, [and] the payment of lease purchase agreements for any of the above purposes."
Voting will take place from noon to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, at Bellevue, Hailey, Hemingway and Woodside elementary schools and at Carey School.
A school bus loaded with youngsters pulls away from Woodside Elementary School in Hailey. The fate of a $59.8 million, 10-year plant facilities levy will be decided by Blaine County voters in an election on Thursday. Photo by David N. Seelig
