Voters to decide on school M&O levy March 8

By Mike Weland

Voters will go to the polls from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, to decide whether or not to continue a two-year, $1.4-million Boundary County School District 101 supplemental maintenance and operations levy that has been in existence for 25 years.

If approved, the levy will provide the district $360,000 to maintain all extracurricular activities, $715,000 in personnel funding not provided by the state, $120,000 for teaching materials and consumables, $75,000 for technology and $130,000 for textbooks, testing and instructional materials.

While Boundary County has long relied on M&O levies to provide more than a bare-bones education, the State of Idaho has seen a 36-percent increase in the number of school districts running levies in the wake of continued state budget shortfalls. Of the 19 school districts in the six North Idaho counties, 17 rely on local funding through voter-approved M&O levies.

If approved, the cost to the owner of a property with an assessed value of $100,000 would increase from the $50 a year they’re now paying to $81 per year.

Voters who can’t make it to the polls on Tuesday or who prefer the convenience of voting while in town can cast an absentee ballot by visiting the clerk’s office at the County Courthouse or by printing an absentee ballot application from the county website, http://www.boundarycountyid.org/clerk/2011absenteeballotapp.pdf, and either bring it to the courthouse or mail it in so that it’s received by the time polls close.

Unlike years past when voters could vote at the school of their choice, this year’s M&O levy will be voted in the same precincts as in any other county, state or federal election.

Those in Bonners Ferry Precinct 1, Kootenai Precinct 3 and North Bonners Ferry Precinct 6 will vote at the exhibit hall at the county fairgrounds, Copeland Precinct 2 voters will cast their ballots at Mt. Hall School, Moyie Springs Precinct 4 voters will cast ballots at the Moyie Springs City Hall, 3331 Roosevelt Road, Naples Precinct 5 voters vote at South Boundary Fire Station 1, 20 Stagecoach Road, and those in Valley View Precinct 7 will cast ballots at Valley View Elementary.

If you’re not sure whether you’re registered or which precinct you vote in, call the Boundary County Clerk, (208) 267-2242, or visit the IdahoVotes website, http://www.idahovotes.gov/AbsenteeBallot/Default.aspx, where you can enter information and find out on-line.

Election results will be posted on both the county website, www.boundarycountyid.org, and on this website as soon as results are available.