HOMEDALE, Idaho — The Homedale School District is asking voters to approve a 10-year plant facility levy at $950,000 per year. The proposed levy will replace an existing levy that expires next summer and decrease the cost to taxpayers if passed.
- The current levy costs taxpayers $170 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. The proposed levy would decrease that cost to about $119 per $100,000 of assessed value.
- The levy needs 55% approval from voters to pass.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
The Homedale School District is asking voters to replace its existing plant facility levy, which expires next summer, with a new levy that will fund facilities for 10 years.
"The Homedale School District does not have a supplemental levy, like many of the districts in the state of Idaho do. So the plant facilities is incredibly important for us," says Homedale School District Superintendent Rob Sauer.
I met Rob at Homedale Elementary, where he showed me the damaged flooring, old carpet, and bathrooms built in the 1950s that would be updated if the levy passes.
"Two of our schools were primarily built in the 1940s and 1950s and with that there comes some replacement costs. We are not looking to build a new elementary, a new high school or new middle school," says Sauer.
With parts of Homedale schools being more than 80 years old, Homedale High School for example, is in need of roof repairs and the elementary school could use a new coat of paint.
The current levy costs taxpayers $170 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value per year. The proposed levy would decrease that number to about $119 per $100,000 of assessed value. So, people would actually be paying less than they're paying now.
"Well, hopefully they recognize that the Homedale School District, our board of trustees are good stewards of the dollar," says Sauer. "We're taking care of the schools that we have. So our students deserve to be educated in facilities that are well-maintained and well-taken care of, and these dollars allow us to do that."
