Early voting starts on school levy request

The official election day is still more than two weeks away, but some people already are casting votes on Kalispell Public Schools’ building reserve and technology levy request.

The high school district is asking for nearly $6 million over five years to pay for repairs and upgrades to its buildings.

Voters will decide the issue at the polls March 22, but some people already are voting via permanent absentee ballot.

The school district mailed 5,624 absentee ballots Wednesday afternoon. Those ballots must be returned no later than 8 p.m. March 22, but district officials are encouraging voters to get their ballots in before election day.

Polls will be open that day at the Flathead County Fairgrounds for voters who live in the Kalispell elementary district, and at various sites around the county for voters who live outside Kalispell but are still within the high school district’s boundaries.

If voters approve the levy request, property taxes on a home with a $100,000 assessed value would increase by about $28.80 a year. Annual taxes on a home with an assessed value of $200,000 would increase by $57.60.

That money would be used for a variety of projects in Flathead and Glacier high schools, the H.E. Robinson Vo-Ag Center and Linderman Educational Center.

Money would be used for roofs, flooring and other repairs at all four buildings. Some money would also be used for technology purchases, including Internet equipment, phone systems and software.

At Glacier High, which opened in 2007, some money would be used for maintenance issues as they arise. By the end of the levy’s five-year cycle, the school will be 10 years old and no longer new; school officials anticipate the building will begin to need repairs at that time.

Flathead High School is slated to receive the bulk of the building reserve money. School officials hope $2.9 million of the levied funds would cover several projects at the district’s original high school building, including replacing boilers (one installed in the 1930s and the other in the 1960s), steam traps, pumps and lines; replacing rooftop units, improving the building’s ventilation and repairing the small gym.

About $900,000 of the money would be put toward a fire suppression system at Flathead to bring the building up to code. Linderman also would receive a fire suppression upgrade.

Kalispell Fire Chief Dan Diehl conducted an in-depth inspection at the high school in November. While the fire department is required by law to inspect all city schools every 18 months, it was the first time such a comprehensive examination had occurred at Flathead, Diehl said.

The close inspection coincided with Montana’s recent adoption of the 2009 International Fire Code, which replaced the Uniform Fire Code the state had been using.

The new code offered flexibility to buildings that weren’t in compliance with either code, Diehl said. Under the old code, Flathead needed millions of dollars of upgrades, according to a study by CTA Architects in 2007.

Those upgrades included special doors, walls and windows to improve fire safety within the building, as well as construction to make sure the school’s half-floors and nooks were within a specific distance from an exit. Fire walls alone cost $100,000 apiece, Diehl said; he estimated Flathead would need 25.

The new fire code allows for a much cheaper option: a sprinkler system throughout the school. Most of Flathead High lacks a sprinkler system.

The district has relied on building reserve levies since 1982. Money from the levies can only be used for building and technology needs; it cannot go toward salaries, supplies or other items supported by the district’s general fund budget.

Starting in 1985, voters had renewed the levy every five years until November 2009, when taxpayers rejected a $4.1 million high school levy request. They approved a $2.8 million elementary request at the same time.

Those were replacement levies; the school board opted to ask voters for the same amount they had paid during the previous five-year levy cycle. This time, trustees are asking voters for more money to cover the expense of the fire suppression system.

If taxpayers reject the levy, the district will have to find money in the general fund budget for projects that can’t be put off.

Officials have estimated that, without the building reserve, necessary building repairs and technology needs would create an additional $433,000 burden on the general fund budget every year.

District officials already anticipate at least a $500,000 shortfall in the general 2011-12 budget. The actual deficit won’t be known until the district gets through negotiations with its staff unions and associations and the Legislature finalizes the state budget later this spring.

Additional information about the building reserve levy is available at www.sd5.k12.mt.us.