Idaho House approves school facilities plan

Some supportive Republicans also panned the division of funds. “It appears to me when you read down through all the numbers … that we’re abandoning rural school districts,” said Rep. Rick Cheatum, R-Pocatello, who ultimately gave the bill a green light.

Under House Bill 521, the state would bond for $1 billion, which would be divided between Idaho’s 116 school districts based on the same attendance-weighted formula that dishes out K-12 funding each year. Districts could take the money in a lump sum or incrementally during the next decade. Supporters say the state funds will help reduce the need for districts to seek locally supported bonds and levies.

“That is some immediate money that they’re able to use for some of their facility needs,” said House Majority Leader Jason Monks, R-Meridian, a co-sponsor of the bill.

Estimates show by-district shares vary widely. The smallest, single-school districts could get $25,000 while the state’s largest district, West Ada, might get $140 million.

Salmon schools —which are among the most cited examples of crumbling school infrastructure — may see $2.6 million. “That won’t build a school,” Cheatum said. “They barely have enough to repair what they have, and they need far more than that.”

Challis could get $1.35 million. Mackay is listed to get $835,781. Butte County is pegged to receive $1.56 million.

The bill also would add an estimated $250 million over 10 years to sales tax revenue that currently helps districts pay off bonds and levies. And it would cut Idaho’s flat income tax rate from 5.8 percent to 5.695 percent.

Altogether, the bill would represent roughly $1.5 billion in new spending on schools in the next decade while another $500 million would be diverted from an existing lottery revenue funds.

The $200 million total annual spending breaks down to $125 million in sales tax revenue leveraged for a new school district facilities bond fund, $50 million in lottery revenue redirected to the existing school district facilities fund and$25 million in sales tax revenue added to the existing school district facilities fund.

But school leaders have to make several concessions to qualify. Districts on a four-day school week, for instance, must meet a to-be-determined minimum of instructional days. That could mean districts have to go back to five-day weeks.

Rep. Dan Garner, R-Clifton, said he was “greatly” concerned by the four-day week provision but ultimately supported the bill. “I will just encourage those involved that we leave the discretion of how the kids are educated and what they can do to the local districts,” he said.

The funding formula has one carve-out that only would affect the Boise School District. It creates a $40 million cap on shares for districts established prior to statehood that don’t need voter approval for certain tax increases.

House Assistant Minority Leader Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, said the “targeted” provision “arbitrarily” cut in half Boise’s share of the facilities funding. Six of the House’s 10 Boise representatives opposed the bill, with one being absent.

One Boise Democrat took an alternative stance against the bill. Rep. Steve Berch argued that Idaho is taking billions in sales tax exemptions off the table each year, which could fund school facilities. Some goods and services, from farming equipment to data centers, are excluded from state sales tax requirements. Idaho has granted $47.6 billion worth of exemptions since 2012. If a review of current exemptions — some in place since the 1960s — found 20 percent were no longer justified, the state would have an additional $1 billion every year, Berch said.

“We’d have the $2 billion for school facilities in two years, without having to borrow money,” he said. “It’s time to take a broader perspective when it comes to funding public education.”

HB 521 now heads to the Senate.