Voters split on school requests

Outlying districts defeat high-school building reserve

Voters on Tuesday split their support for a pair of building-reserve levy requests from Kalispell Public Schools.

Voters approved a $2.8 million building-reserve request for the elementary district but the $4.1 million request for the high school district failed in every outlying elementary district.

Only Kalispell voters approved the high school levy. Their support was not enough to override the 51.8 percent negative vote.

Suppport for the elementary levy request was substantial, drawing a 57.2 percent approval against the 42.8 percent vote against it.

There were 2,789 votes in favor of the elementary levy, compared to 2,086 against it.

Taxpayers who live in the Kalispell district as well as those who live in elementary districts that feed into Flathead or Glacier high school voted on the high school levy.

It was shot down with 3,542 for it and 3,806 against it.

Districts with the majority of voters opposing the high school levy were West Valley, Deer Park, Fair-Mont-Egan, Cayuse Prairie, Helena Flats, Kila, Pleasant Valley, Somers, Lakeside, Evergreen, Marion, Bissell and Smith Valley. Creston School District numbers were unavailable.

This is the first time voters have denied a Kalispell building reserve request since the levies were initiated in 1982. Voters have renewed the levies every five years since 1985.

The current levies expire June 30, 2010.

The elementary levy amount has not gone up since the last request was approved in 2004. Annual property taxes will decline because there are more taxable homes and businesses in the district than there were five years ago.

A home in the elementary district with a taxable market value of $200,000 will pay about $64 a year, down from the $70 the homeowner has paid annually for the last five years.

Those taxes may be used to replace aged and stained ceilings, remove asbestos materials, replace and repair roofs and address safety features at several school sites. The district also plans to replace 60-year-old boilers in some buildings.

Some funds likely will be used to upgrade the district's phone system, which has been unchanged since 1998.

Building reserve money is separate from the district's general fund budget and is used to make improvements on school sites. There is little money in the general fund budget, most of which is allocated for staff salaries and benefits, to pay for basic upkeep on the buildings in the district.

Districtwide, Kalispell has 14 schools and support facilities to maintain.

Technology purchases, such as computers and phone system upgrades, also are financed out of the building reserve fund.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com