CALDWELL, Idaho — Caldwell and Vallivue school districts are each seeking a two-year supplemental levy in the March 10 election.
The Caldwell School District is seeking $4.1 million per year, an increase from the $2.5 million voters approved in 2018, according to the district’s chief financial officer, April Burton.
The Vallivue School District is seeking a $4.5 million per year, the same amount voters have approved for the past decade, said Joey Palmer, a director with the district.
The Nampa School District will also have a supplemental levy on the March ballot, following the failure of its levy measure in November by just 10 votes. The new levy request is for $12.9 million per year, up from the $12 million request in November.
Burton and Palmer said officials in their districts are working to inform voters on how the levies would be used and how they would impact property taxes.
“We want to make these decisions with the community, and not to the community,” Caldwell Superintendent Shalene French said.
Under a proposed bill in the Idaho Legislature, districts may not have this supplemental levy option in the future. Caldwell Sen. Jim Rice is working on legislation that would raise the state sales tax to 7% and funnel most of the revenue to school districts. The bill would prevent districts from seeking future supplemental levies. Rice’s intentions for the bill is that, if passed by the Legislature, it would also need approval from Idaho voters.
CALDWELL
For the past 10 years, the Caldwell School District’s levies were between $2.5 million and $2.7 million per year, Burton said. That money is used to support extracurricular activities and maintain existing resources.
This year, district officials opted to raise the levy in response to a drop in enrollment of about 250 students this academic year due to two charter schools opening in the area — Elevate Academy and Forge International.
French said the district enrolls about 6,200 students. Burton said she expects enrollment to drop further by 378 students next school year with another charter school, Mosaics Public School, scheduled to open in the fall.
“We’re anticipating that that will have a significant impact in our enrollment,” Burton said.
Decreasing enrollment impacts the funding school districts get from the state, Burton said. About $1.5 million of the increase in the supplemental levy is meant to make up for the funding the district expects to lose from the state due to the decrease in enrollment this year and projected for next year, she said.
The additional $100,000 added to the $4.1 million levy would support a school resource officer hired this school year who rotates through Caldwell’s six elementary schools, French said.
If enrollment does not drop as much as the district expects, Burton said the district will likely use the extra levy funds to purchase curriculum.
The district’s estimated tax rate is expected to stay the same at $366 per $100,000 of taxable value. French said the district accomplished this by lowering its bond payment for next year. From last year to this year, the tax rate dropped from $419 per $100,000 of taxable value to $366 per $100,000, she said, because of a growing market value.
A lower tax levy rate does not always translate to a lower tax bill for property owners, because the value of their property may have gone up.
Voters can find more information about the Caldwell School District levy on the district’s website, caldwellschools.org.
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VALLIVUE
The Vallivue School District is experiencing the opposite problem as Caldwell, according to Palmer. From last school year to this one, he said the district’s overall enrollment grew from about 9,100 students to about 9,500 students, and he expects that trend to continue.
The Vallivue School District is placed in a largely suburban area, with more homes being built in the area at a fast pace, Palmer said.
Despite the growth, the district is keeping its supplemental levy at the same rate it’s held since 2010, Palmer said — $4.5 million per year.
The district passed a $65.3 million bond last year to pay for a third middle school, and Palmer said the district has an emergency levy in place to support the increasing enrollment.
The largest chunk of funding from the supplemental levy supports extracurricular activities, at $1.1 million, Palmer said. Without the levy, he said the district would likely have to enact a pay-to-play program or cut some activities.
“It makes for very difficult conversations about what programs to cut,” he said.
About $310,000 of the levy would help hire additional staff to support the district’s all-day, everyday kindergarten program, which Palmer said the district started this year. Another $510,000 of levy funding also goes toward staffing costs in other areas, according to a district presentation.
Due to the growth of the district’s market value, Palmer said the tax levy rate went down. The tax rate this year was $498 per $100,000 of taxable value, he said. With the levy, the tax rate next year would be $468 per $100,000 of taxable value, which he said is the lowest rate the district has seen in 15 years.
For more information about the Vallivue School District levy, visit the district’s website, vallivue.org.
Erin Bamer is the Nampa/Caldwell reporter. Contact her at 208-465-8193, or ebamer@idahopress.com. Follow on Twitter @ErinBamer.
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