The 2023 Idaho State Legislature made a huge splash in passing HB292, a bill aimed at reducing $274 million in property taxes. One of the ways the bill is meant to relieve taxpayers is by creating a School District Facility Fund: funds provided to each school district, based on their average daily attendance, to pay school bonds, pay school levies, and save for future construction needs. The remaining funds may be used for new bonds.
If the talk of school bonds and levies sounds familiar, the Coeur d'Alene School District recently tried to pass a School Plant Facilities Levy (SPFL) in March 2023 for $5 million per year for 5 years which failed at the polls. This new state-appropriated money will take the place of future SPFL asks and will only be allowed to pay for bonds and levies towards the construction or renovation of school facilities.
The Coeur d'Alene School District is set to receive $3,731,845.44 from the state by August 31. This money is in addition to the funds the district is now receiving for teacher's salaries and classified staff raises due to the Governor's C0vid budget surplus.
This new $3.7 million will go towards the 2017 Bond Fund to help pay down the last bond that was passed by the community. That bond was used to build the new Northwest Expedition Academy school, upgrade Coeur d'Alene and Lake City High Schools, and make additions at other schools. In the 2023/2024 CDA Schools Annual Budget, the Finance Department estimated that they were to receive $2.8 million from this new fund this year but the public will have to wait for an updated budget from the district to see the new tax rate for the remaining balance.
The full 2023/2024 School District Facilities Distribution allocation sheet is below.
