Just two of the 24 levies on Idaho ballots failed on Tuesday: Valley and Marsh Valley.
For the two small districts, the failures have strikingly different consequences. In Marsh Valley, the levy signifies an end to the years-long debate of whether or not to reduce the district’s footprint.
In Valley, there’s another shot to rerun the measure, before the district will have to cut staff.
The failures encompass just under $4 million of the nearly $75 million voters considered in supplemental levies.
Major changes coming to Marsh Valley
Nearly three years ago, when Marsh Valley trustees put a $2.2 million supplemental levy on the ballot it was to buy time, said Superintendent Gary Tucker.
The district, which serves about 1,050 students, has four elementary schools, none of which are full. Two have an enrollment of 80 students or less, Tucker said.
“We’ve talked about a reconfiguration to be able to run a little more efficiently in the district,” he said.
More buildings simply cost more, he said. They require more staff, utilities and transportation than if buildings were consolidated, Tucker said.
The levy two years ago, one of the district’s only supplemental levies in its history, was supposed to buy time for a long-term plan. The Lava Hot Springs Elementary School is set to become a district-sponsored charter school this fall. Even with that change, the district needed to downsize.
Tucker proposed several ideas but a group of patrons vocally opposed most of the options.
So trustees put a $3.5 million two-year levy on the ballot in May that would allow the status quo to continue. The measure failed with 55% of voters in opposition.
“Some of our patrons pushed back against that saying they’d rather pay more in taxes than reconfigure,” Tucker said.“Based on the results of the levy, it’s pretty clear that our patrons prefer some sort of reconfiguration to a supplemental levy.”
Tucker has several ideas that again will be discussed with the school board, as early as next week. The district could close an elementary school, change boundaries, move to grade-level centers instead of four K-6 elementary schools, or move the middle school into the high school, to name a few.
While no plan will please everyone, a decision will have to be made quickly, Tucker siad.
“We are now adding a time constraint into the mix as well,” he said. “It’s almost June and we’ve got to have something in place for next year.”
The voters have spoken, Tucker said, and he’s ready to get to work.
“I’m confident we’re going to make decisions in the best interest of students,” he said.
Valley Levy: a precaution that left time to plan
The Valley School District outside of Twin Falls has historically been successful when it comes to passing supplemental levies.
Residents of the district that serves about 500 students have passed a $600,000 two-year levy since 2011. The majority of the levy dollars paid for staff salaries and benefits at $270,000 per year. An additional $30,000 funded student travel that isn’t reimbursed by the state.
“We haven’t needed any more,” Superintendent Ty Jones said of the stagnant levy amount. “We need what we’re asking for.”
After the Legislature reduced the number of election dates that districts can put a levy on the ballot, Valley trustees decided it was in their best interest to run the replacement levy in May, despite the current levy not expiring until July 2026.
“We were just running it a little early in case something happened and unfortunately something happened,” Jones said.
The failure by seven votes came as a surprise, said Jones, who took over as superintendent in October.
“We’ve never not passed one,” Jones said. “We were a little bit surprised. We knew it was going to be close.”
For most homeowners, the levy bill has gone down by more than half with state property tax relief. In 2024, the district collected $104,873 of the $300,000 it was authorized to receive.
The school board will meet next month to decide next steps, Jones said. The district could rerun the levy in November or make a plan to operate without those funds, he said.
“We appreciate the people that have always supported us and we’ll continue to do the best we can,” Jones said.
