Voters to consider renewal of PCSD 25’s Supplemental Levy in March
POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – On Tuesday, March 14, 2023, local voters will be asked to consider the renewal of the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 Supplemental Levy.
The Supplemental Levy is a voter-approved levy that generates funds a school district can use to support local operating costs. If passed, the Supplemental Levy will provide $8.25 million in funding per year for two years.
The levy amount requested by PCSD 25 is a decrease from $9.25 million, which represents a $2 million cost savings to taxpayers over two years. The levy funding is a fixed amount. If passed, the school district will receive the fixed amount of funding, which is not dependent on property values increasing or decreasing overall in Bannock County.
The estimated annual cost to taxpayers for the proposed levy is$113.07/year or $9.42/month per $100,000 taxable value based on the estimated levy rate of 0.001130. Based on current assumptions and calculations, this estimation represents a nearly eleven percent decrease over the previous year.
For the 2021-2022 school year, the Supplemental Levy funded approximately eleven percent of PCSD 25’s operating costs. Funds from the Supplemental Levy are utilized to deliver K-12 education to the more than 12,000 learners who live in the boundaries of the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25. Legislation passed in 2022 requires school districts to provide the breakdown of proposed funding. The Supplemental Levy funds will be allocated each year as follows:
- Salaries and benefits to recruit and retain qualified teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators, support, and coaching staff $5,420,000
- Day-to-day operations of local PCSD 25 public schools $850,000
- Special Education services and equipment $830,000
- Instructional technology, classroom equipment, and staff $720,000
- Transportation: Buses, salaries, and benefits $455,000
This is not a new tax. This is a renewal of the existing levy that has been community-supported for more than sixty years.All supplemental levy funds are local support for local learners. The levy requires a simple majority to pass.
Election Day is Tuesday, March 14. Early walk-in voting begins Monday, February 27 at the Bannock County Elections Office. Early voting ends on Friday, March 10.
“Our community plays a pivotal role in supporting the delivery of K-12 education in the Pocatello and Chubbuck communities. The supplemental levy is local support for local education. Despite recent increases in state funding, nearly eighty percent of Idaho’s school districts continue to rely on supplemental levies to fund their local operations. This levy has been community-supported for more than sixty years to help fund a high quality education for the learners in our community,” Superintendent Douglas Howell said.
More information about the PCSD 25’s 2023 Supplemental Levy Renewal can be found online HERE.
