By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports
In an 11-2 vote, the House State Affairs Committee moved forward a bill that would eliminate school boards’ ability to run bond and levy elections in March and August.
Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Couer d’Alene, sponsored the bill, arguing that the November and May elections have a better turnout and are therefore more representative of what voters would want to pay in property taxes.
HB 58 now heads to the House of Representatives for a vote. Should it pass the Legislature, it would take effect July 1.
Jeff Dillon, Superintendent of Wilder School District, testified in opposition to the bill, stating his district is reliant on a levy. He argued the way the budgeting cycle works, it’s sometimes more convenient to run levies in August.
Dillon expressed concern about getting a levy on the ballot in time after the state sets budgets.
“We don’t want to minimize our opportunity to make sure we have the best budget in place and communicate that with our stakeholders,” he said.
He also argued that levies can get lost on the November ballot, though his district tries to inform voters of the need.
“I agree that our patrons need to know and be part of that discussion. I know we try to make sure that our patrons are well-aware and can vote on that levy,” Dillon told the committee.
Quinn Perry, deputy director of Idaho School Boards Association, spoke on behalf of the association’s opposition as well as the opposition of the Idaho Association of School Administrators.
She addressed the fact that bonds and levies already require a two-thirds supermajority vote to pass, a barrier most states don’t have.
“Every year we seem to come to you and fight for these bare minimum tools that we need to fund and operate the operations of our schools or school buildings,” Perry said. “You should hear from every school leader that running a bond or a levy in a school district is one of the least fun things they have to do in their job description, but they do it because they have to, and they do go above and beyond to share the ‘why’ behind why they need the levy in March in August or a bond in March or August.”
She asked legislators to work with the schools for funding solutions and that the March date was particularly important for schools that need to fill a funding shortage.
Other school trustees or superintendents also testified in opposition to the bill.
The Idaho Farm Bureau testified in favor of the bill, saying farmers pay property taxes on both agriculture land and their residential property.
Rep. Brooke Green, D-Boise, voted in opposition to the bill, saying the schools deserve a seat at the table before passing this kind of legislation. Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, also voted against the bill. Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, argued that there will be higher voter turnout if the bonds and levies are voted on in May and November.
The bill must still go before the full House for a vote before it can move to the Senate.
