Idaho school districts will collect a record $202.2 million in voter-approved supplemental property tax levies this year.
It’s the first time the supplemental levy bill exceeded the $200 million mark. A year ago, Idaho schools collected a then-record $194.7 million. Districts can and do use supplemental levies for a variety of purposes, including teacher salaries and benefits, classroom technology, and textbooks. And many school officials say the one- to two-year levies are no longer supplemental, but instead help pay for essentials.
Idaho’s supplemental tax bill has nearly doubled over the past decade, and all told, 93 of Idaho’s 115 school districts have a supplemental levy on the books. While the vast majority of school districts continue to rely on extra help from local taxpayers, the picture of school funding is blurry.
A legislative committee has recommended an overhaul of Idaho’s school funding formula, a complicated rewrite that figures to be one of the leading issues in the 2019 legislative session. Under the latest version of the new formula endorsed by the committee last week, 36 districts and charters stand to receive fewer dollars from the state.
If lawmakers change the way the state carves up its education budget, it could also affect local tax bills.
Some education leaders say the rising supplemental levy bill illustrates shortcomings in Idaho’s K-12 budget. The Idaho School Boards Association, the Idaho association of School Administrators, and the Idaho Education Association want lawmakers to leave the state’s teacher salary budget line item intact, rather than folding that money into a new funding formula. IEA leaders say revamping the funding formula won’t go far enough, and called on the state to back that up with a five- to 10-year plan to invest in schools. (IdahoEdNews.org)
