Why is this levy so important?

In 2006 the Idaho State legislature passed a bill that encouraged local control of school districts, by shifting some of the school funding responsibility from the state to the local districts through property tax levies.

So for the past 3 years when Mountain View's levies failed, and then last year when the School Board decided not to run a supplemental levy, the School Board made up the budget deficit primarily by taking money from the School's reserves. Those reserves were made up of federal dollars (Forest Funds).

In addition, unexpected federal dollars for COVID (SSR) Funds helped to supplement the budget. These funds are gone. To maintain what we have, we have no other source of money than from the local control of a levy.

As of July 1, 2024, there may be approximately $1.3 M in this reserve account depending on how expenditures come in for this year.  If realized, this amount represents about 10% of what is needed to operate for one school year or support about 1 month of expenditures.  The state and every responsible business owner recommends that fiscally responsible school districts have 1.5 – 3 months of operational expenses in reserves to cover any emergencies that might arise during a given year.  Currently, the majority of funds in this reserve account have been budgeted to cover expenditures for our current school year. The public had requested that reserves be used before a levy is requested, and we are there.