COEUR d'ALENE - Voters living in the Coeur d'Alene School District will head to the polls March 8 to consider whether to give the school district additional local property tax dollars to help maintain education services for the next two years.

Some area property owners have asked The Press to explain how passage or failure of the levies will affect tax bills for a variety of homeowners.

"It's just not clear to most people," said Ron Lovlyn, of Coeur d'Alene.

The school district is asking voters to approve a pair of two-year supplemental levies on the same ballot.

If both levies are successfully passed, the district's general fund budget will be propped up by $12.9 million per year for two years. The rate to taxpayers will be $1.61 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

For the owner of a home assessed at $200,000, after the 2011 homeowner's exemption of $92,040 is applied, the annual cost of the $12.9 million in school levies will be an estimated $174 per year for the next two years.

The Idaho State Tax Commission explains on its website that in 2011, a homeowner can apply for an exemption of 50 percent of the assessed value an owner-occupied primary residence or $92,040, whichever is less.

Two levies, one ballot

One of the ballot options seeks replacement of a $7.8 million expiring levy taxpayers have been supporting since it was approved at the polls in 2009.

If the $7.8 million option is approved, taxpayers will not see an increase in their bills. They will continue paying the 98 cents per $1,000 of taxable assessed property value that they have paid for the last year.

Voters who say yes to the $7.8 million replacement levy will have the option of voting in favor of a $5 million levy. The $5 million levy will cost property owners 63 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.

Combined, the tax rate for both levies is $1.61.

Other school taxes

Successful passage of both levies will add the $1.61 tax rate to other school taxes already being levied on property owners, and raise the total amount of school taxes levied to $2.14 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

In August, voters approved a two-year facilities levy to finance a portion of the construction of the Kootenai Technical Education Center (KTEC) high school, a joint endeavor by Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland school districts.

The tax rate for the KTEC levy is 34 cents.

A bond for construction that took place at Lake City High School is now costing taxpayers 16 cents per $1,000, and a state required tort levy adds another 3 cents per $1,000 to property tax bills.

The good news for taxpayers is that the KTEC two-year levy, and the Lake City bond will come off the tax rolls next year.

By December 2012, 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value (34 cents for KTEC and 16 cents for the LCHS bond) will no longer be collected.

Taxpayers will be charged the full $2.14 through June 2012. On their December 2012 bills they will see the rate drop to an estimated $1.64 per $1,000.

Levy failure

If voters fail to approve another levy, the district faces a $12.8 million shortfall for the next school year. The nearly $13 million budget hole is in addition to $8.8 million that has already been slashed from the budget since funding from the state budget has waned since 2009.

If neither the $7.8 million levy, nor the $5 million levy is approved by voters on March 8, taxpayers will see their bills go down. They will also see a reduction in services to educate children.

The total school tax rate will drop by 98 cents when the $7.8 million levy expires. and without replacement, taxpayers will be charged a rate of just 53 cents per $1,000 of property value.

The 53-cent tax rate would drop further as the KTEC levy and LCHS bond drop off.

The Coeur d'Alene School District would have no supplemental property tax funding in its budget.

As it stands now, the district already has one of the lowest levy tax rates in the state.

Should neither measure pass, the district expects it will have to make the following changes to adjust to the lack of funding:

• 115 full-time and 162 part-time positions will be cut;

• 3 full-time middle school and high school assistant principal positions will be cut;

• activities, including athletics, will be eliminated;

• up to 20 days will be furloughed from the school calendar.