Polls open until 8 p.m. for school election

People may vote until 8 p.m. today in Kalispell Public Schools’ building reserve and technology levy election.

The school district is requesting a $6 million, five-year building reserve and technology levy to pay for repairs and upgrades to properties in its high school district.

Polls are open today in Kalispell and nearby school districts that send students to Kalispell high schools.

Residents of Kalispell’s elementary district may vote from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Expo Building at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Evergreen Junior High, Helena Flats School, Somers Middle School, Lakeside Elementary and West Valley School.

Voters in the Smith Valley School District may vote at the school from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Polls will be open from noon to 8 p.m. at Deer Park, Fair-Mont-Egan, Creston, Cayuse Prairie, Kila, Pleasant Valley and Olney-Bissell schools and at the Marion Fire Hall.

Absentee ballots must be returned by 8 p.m. today.

If voters give the OK to the levy request, taxes would be levied over five years and used solely for building and technology needs.

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.

The money would be used on projects throughout the district, which includes Flathead and Glacier high schools, the H.E. Robinson Vo-Ag Center, Linderman Educational Center, the auxiliary services building on East Washington Street and the central office above the Flathead County Library — almost 638,000 square feet of building space and 87 acres of land.

Flathead High School would receive about half the levied money, including $900,000 toward a fire suppression system to bring the building up to code.

The building reserve money would not go toward regular operations of schools or staff pay. Those are covered by general fund budgeting.

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