School Proposals Defeated Voters In Bonner County Reject $3 Million Package

Bonner County voters soundly rejected a $3 million levy package Monday that would have paid for buses, building repairs and a new elementary school.

“I’m surprised,” school trustee Willard Osmunson said of the margin of defeat. “I would expect people to value their children and education more.”

The levy proposal was split into two $1.5 million projects.

The first chunk of cash was to build a 13-room, 325-student schoolhouse in Kootenai. The rest of the levy money was earmarked to fix dilapidated roofs, update fire and safety items and buy buses and books.

With 12 of 15 precincts reporting late Monday, the Kootenai Elementary levy was failing with 1,517 votes against it to 696 votes supporting it. The second half of the levy also was going down 1,580 to 627.

The levies needed only a simple majority to pass. The package would have cost taxpayers about $1.54 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

The defeat means the district will have to look at budget cuts including extra-curricular activities, said Business Manager Steve Battenschlag.

Osmunson said the levy will have to be run again, but the question is when. This one was bad timing, he said, coming shortly after residents received tax notices.

“I think we have a bigger education job to do with the voters than we do with the kids,” Osmunson said.

The levy drew opposition from the start. And as people headed to the polls Monday, they passed signs and heard radio ads urging them to vote it down.

“Let’s stop the waste. Let’s stop the tax increase,” said one ad, paid for by a group called Concerned Citizens for Education.

The group argued the district spends too much on administration and extra curricular programs, and buildings are falling apart because of a poor maintenance plan.

“Who the hells fault is it that maintenance hasn’t been done on buildings around here,” said levy opponent Robert McFarland last week. “It’s time the district get its priorities straight and lives within a budget like the rest of us.”

Kootenai Elementary School was also a sore spot for some voters. In 1987 residents passed a $1.5 million levy to build it along with five other schools.

The school was supposed to be completed last year, but inflation cut the project down to four classrooms instead of eight.

, DataTimes