West Bonner to run $4.7M levy

PRIEST RIVER — West Bonner County School District trustees approved putting a two-year $4.7 million levy on the May 20 ballot in a 3-2 vote during a special meeting Thursday.

Split over two years, the levy amounts to $2,353,440.50 per year. If approved by voters, the levy would amount to 43 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.

Based on property tax assessed value, the annual cost would be $43.41 per $100,000 — or $3.62 per month. That translates to $130.23 per year for a $300,000 home, or $10.85 per month; $173.64 per year for a $400,000 home, or $14.47 per month; $217.05 per year for a $500,000 home, or $18.09 per month; or $260.46 for a $600,000 home, or $21.71 per month.

The special board meeting followed a 90-minute board work session to go over the district's finances with accountants Debra Buttrey and Belynda Best. After a careful review, and going back 10 years, the pair were able to determine that a majority of the 2021-22 levy — roughly $2.3 million — had gone unspent.

While the board was unsure why that was the case, they theorized that a combination of staff turnover, untrained in the complexities of school finances, combined with the pandemic, may have contributed.

While Buttrey proposed the district put a $3.289 million levy on the ballot, a board majority opted to increase the amount to $4.7 million.

The initial proposal included $1.7 million for teacher and staff salaries, $200,000 to operate the school library and for copy paper, $614,000 for sports and extracurricular activities, $75,000 to purchase one bus during each of the levy's two years, $300,000 to restart the district's music and arts programs, $250,000 to pay a nurse and school psychologists and $150,000 for utilities at the closed junior high school.

The proposal adopted by the board adds $1 million to supplement facilities maintenance and $500,000 to increase staff pay and retain employees over the life of the levy. 

Buttrey and Best said West Bonner receives roughly $8 million in state and federal funding; however, it costs about $10 million to operate. The pair recommended the district take a majority of the unspent levy money and use it to covers its bills, leaving $500,000 in reserve to cover emergencies.

District officials said West Bonner expects to receive about $500,000 per year from House Bill 292, which will send funds to districts to help cover building maintenance and renovation. Those funds — an estimated $1 million — are aimed at provided property tax relief and would lower the amount of any levy by that amount.

A 2% raise promised to district staff in the previous fiscal year, but was never implemented even though it had been budgeted, would cost $175,000. It's unclear why.

Longtime teacher Jared Hughes, who sits on the teachers negotiating team, asked the district to honor its commitment on the raise. The funds from the unspent levy were earmarked for salaries and benefits and with the confusion over the district's finances clearing, the board needs to keep its promises.

"I'm asking that the board honors the 2% raise it budgeted and bring forward a little bit of that, plus cover some other things," Hughes told the board in an emotional speech. "The reason being we have the highest turnover rate in the state because we do not have, still do not have contracts. We are the lowest paid in North Idaho and we are the fifth lowest in the state of Idaho right now."

The district's teachers are the lowest paid across the board, making it difficult to recruit new teachers and retain existing staff.

"Over the last two years, I've negotiated with people in this district and I tell people every day, it's going to be OK, it's going to be OK. You're going to get your money," Hughes said. "But guess what, if you pass (the levy proposal) as is, there's 60 people in this district who are going to feel less valued."

While Nash proposed splitting the levy into several components to give voters control over what they wanted to see in the district, the proposal ultimately adopted kept the items to one levy item.

"If people saw certain items as being what they want to support but they don't want to support the whole thing, we can at least get part of it," Nash said, after noting she favored sticking with the amount proposed by Buttrey. "That way it wouldn't be an all or nothing, which is what it would be if we put it all together."

Saying that while she feels the amount is reasonable, Nash said the district will likely have a tough time passing a levy.

Hall also said she favored a levy, but said she preferred to wait a week and hold another meeting so the board could get more definitive numbers that would allow it to honor the promised 2% raise while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

While all trustees favored placing a two-year levy on the ballot, they split on the timing of when to make a decision. Trustees Paul Turco, Delbert Pound and chair Ann Yount said they could no longer push a decision further down the road while trustees Kathy Nash and vice chair Margaret Hall preferred waiting a week in hopes of getting more definitive numbers from district staff.

Pound, saying the board had dilly-dallied around for long enough, said it was time for the board to take action.

"Let's get this thing going," Pound said in supporting a levy, prompting scattered applause. "Let's just be done with it."

Turco agreed.

"If passed, these funds without a doubt will enhance the educational experience for all students and benefit the entire community of West Bonner County," Turco said in a Friday email that broke down the levy's projected cost.

Even if the levy passes, district officials said there were no frills to the budget. 

If the levy fails, West Bonner Superintendent Kim Spacek said the district will have to close two elementary schools, leaving just one, and a combined junior/senior high school. Even then, the superintendent said, the district would struggle to make ends meet.

"I think we're always going to be running a very tight ship," Turco said. "These are still very tight numbers. We're just keeping the lights on."