Anti-levy mail raises concerns

PONDERAY — The community in the Lake Pend Oreille School District has expressed concerns over a mailer sent out to postal customers this week regarding the district's proposed $55.1 million plant facilities levy.

The mailer urges people to vote against the levy. Todd Riley, a counselor at Sandpoint Middle School, brought the mailer to the district’s Board of Trustee meeting Tuesday at the Ponderay Event Center with the concern that the information on the mailer might not be accurate.

The Daily Bee has also received letters from the community expressing concerns over the information.

The Daily Bee met with school board personnel Wednesday and acquired records from LPOSD, the Idaho Department of Education, Idaho State Tax Commission reports and a Lake Pend Oreille School District external audit done by a consulting firm in Coeur d'Alene.

“We totally understand for people to be on both sides of this issue,” said LPOSD superintendent Shawn Woodward. “I respect the opinions and questions about the measure. However, it’s extremely disheartening and disappointing for a group of people to send out blatantly false information about our school district.”

The first bullet point on the mailer says the levy "is more than all the state school districts combined."

The $55.1 million LPOSD levy would be spread out over six years, so Lisa Hals, the district's chief financial and operations manager, said the first year of the levy would be $8,737,827.

According to a general summary provided by Tim Hill at the Idaho Department of Education, 52 districts in Idaho have plant facility levies, totalling $53,480,073 — that is for one year and only includes plant facility levies.

The six-year total for the proposed LPOSD plant facilities levy of $55.1 million is more than the one year total for all districts of $53.4 million. But the one year total of the proposed levy at $8.7 million is 16.3 percent of the one year total for all districts.

The report can be found at www.sde.idaho.gov/finance/files/tax-levy/schools/FY2016-Tax-Levies.pdf.

The second bullet point states the levy will "double your property tax."

It may double the tax rates of district levies, but the bullet point reads as though the levy would double the overall tax rate for homeowners.

“We are not going to double your tax rate,” Hals said. “Your taxes are not going to go from $900 to $1,800 as a result of this plant levy.”

A taxpayer with a home valued at $100,000 is currently paying an average rate of $184 per year toward LPOSD levies. The proposed levy would cost a taxpayer an estimated $200 more per year with a home valued at $100,000. According to a report by the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho, the current average rate in Bonner County for taxpayers is .892 for $100 of assessed value. So a taxpayer with a home valued at $100,000 is paying an average of $892 per year.

None of the previous numbers include a homeowner’s exemption, which can cut tax rates for homeowner by up to one-half for qualified customers.

The current LPOSD levy passed in 2015 is a supplemental levy, which is distinct from a plant facilities levy in that it can be used for operational costs. A plant facilities levy can only be used for cost of construction.

The third bullet point states: "This levy is a 700 percent increase from the previous LPOSD plant levy."

The last time LPOSD had a plant facilities levy was in 2008. The $14.1 million levy was split over two years at $7,050,000 per year. It is unclear where the 700 percent increase is between the previous levy and the proposed $55.1 million levy. A 700 percent increase from $14.1 would be $98.7 million. The proposed $55.1 million levy is a 390 percent increase from the 2008 levy.

The final bullet point states that the 2008 plant facilities levy included $1 million in contingency funds, "still Kootenai went over budget and remains unfinished and over capacity."

Hals said it did include $1 million in contingency funds, but said the projects from the 2008 levy that included Sagle and Kootenai elementary schools was completed ahead of schedule and 8 percent under budget. This is confirmed by the annual external audit done by Magnuson, McHugh and Company, P.A. CPAs and Consultants, in June of 2010. A "Management Discussion and Analysis" within that audit, which was done shortly after the work completed, said a projected $2.1 million in funds remained for future and capital investment.

“Of that $2.1 million, $1 million in contingency and another $1.1 million that was under budget,” Hals said. “Not only did we finish these projects on time and under budget, but because our construction bid at Kootenai came in so much lower than we had budgeted for, we were able to enhance the project.”

This information is also available in the minutes from the July 4, 2009, and July 13, 2010, LPOSD meetings, which can be found on the district’s website at http://www.lposd.org/board-of-trustees/school-board-minutes.

As far as over-capacity at Kootenai Elementary School, the work done with the 2008 plant levy included eleven new classrooms, a new library and technology lab, a gym and more. Overall, the capacity increased to 550 students after the new classrooms were added. Hals said they moved students from Farmin Stidwell to Kootenai, and district records show in the 2010-2011 school year the student population increased from 133 students to 348. The records did not indicate the current number, but in 2014-2015 there were 409 students enrolled at Kootenai elementary.

“We have earned the trust of the majority of our community over the years for lots of reasons, including A-plus audits, fiscal responsibility, excellent student achievement, excellent staff, etcetera,” Woodward said. “This group is attempting to erode that trust with misinformation. It’s our hope that people will vote based on facts, not the misinformation being distributed by the anti-levy group.”