LPOSD: Anti-levy drive is misleading

SANDPOINT — A mailing to Lake Pend Oreille School District residents regarding Tuesday's $12.6 million plant facility levy contains misleading and inaccurate information, according to district officials.

"We are saddened that after repeated attempts to work with Larry Spencer and give him accurate information, he still decided to send out wrong information in the final days of the campaign," Lake Pend Oreille School Board Chairwoman Vickie Pfeifer said Friday.

"No two projects are exactly alike and his attempt to compare the proposed remodel and expansion of Kootenai Elementary School to other recent school projects in the region doesn't stand up under close scrutiny," she said, citing location and inflation as "just two of the many factors Mr. Spencer has ignored."

Pfeifer said she has confidence that local voters will support the levy, especially after the recent action by the Idaho Legislature, which will significantly reduce property taxes. By removing the $3 per $1,000 of taxable value that had been levied by the state to pay for public schools, and adding a penny to the sales tax, most residents will actually pay less in property taxes, even if this levy passes.

District officials have estimated the net reduction is $350 per year for a taxable property value of $200,000.

"Voters know that they have not funded a facility levy since 1985 and that these necessary projects will only get more expensive," Pfeifer said.

The levy will meet the district's most pressing current needs, including cost effective steps such as installation of energy efficient heating systems, purchase of new school buses and communication technology upgrades. The levy also will make possible the purchase of kitchen and food service equipment required under new federal mandates.

"The Kootenai project is essential to meet the needs of students and teachers in an area of growth" said Pfeifer. "In a professional survey conducted last spring, a large majority of residents told us they wanted Kootenai School to be completed. Our facilities committee responded to that clear message from the public, and the school board unanimously approved their proposed plan."

Pfeifer reminded voters that the school board also has approved a Citizens' Oversight Committee to monitor spending of levy dollars. "That is an important taxpayer safeguard," she said.

She also noted that the district's independent auditor, Magnuson, McHugh & Co. of Coeur d'Alene, is completing its latest audit of district finances. The preliminary report, she said, is that for the third consecutive year the district is in better financial health than in prior years. "We have established a reserve account, we are decreasing our long-term debt and have been able to give modest raises to teachers and staff in the past three years," Pfeifer said.

In Idaho, the only way school districts can finance school construction and other capital costs is to ask local voters to approve a plant facility levy or school construction bond. No such levy or bond has been approved here since 1985. This levy proposal is for two years.