POST FALLS - Post Falls School District voters are expected to consider two separate funding proposals in March.

The school board on Monday heard information on a supplemental levy proposal for $4.65 million per year for two years. The board will decide on Jan. 12 whether to forward the proposal to voters on March 10.

With a separate proposal, the board decided to place a $19.5 million facility bond levy to construct a new elementary school and facility improvements on the March ballot.

Even if both proposals pass, current school district taxes would not increase, Superintendent Jerry Keane said.

"We limited the cost of both proposals to ensure that we would not be raising taxes," Keane said.

If the supplemental levy proposal does not receive a simple majority (50 percent, plus one) vote to pass, an owner of a $200,000 home would pay about $1.50 less in taxes per month.

If the facility bond levy vote does not reach at least the two-thirds approval to pass, taxes for the average homeowner would decrease $2.71 per month. Idaho is the only state which requires such a vote for school facility measures and does not provide matching state funds.

The proposed supplemental levy amount of $4.65 million is higher than the district's $4.25 million levy that will expire at the end of this fiscal year, but will not increase taxes because the bond that funded West Ridge Elementary is expiring and other bonds are being refinanced, Keane said.

"The way it works is that the current supplemental rate will go up slightly and the current bond expenses will go down slightly," he said.

Idaho school districts have the ability to supplement funds they receive from the state by asking local patrons to vote to approve an additional amount with a supplemental levy. Keane said Post Falls has needed to rely more on supplemental funds during the past five years due to a reduction of state funds coming to the district.

"The state reduced the district's appropriation by $3.2 million over the past five years," he said. "Last year the state started to restore some of that lost revenue. However, the state only restored about 20 percent of the reduction."

The supplemental funds would be used for curricular materials, textbooks, buses and technology required for state-required testing.

"For many years, we have not been able to allocate appropriate resources in these areas due to the state cutbacks," Keane said.

Keane said most of the talks regarding the 2016 state appropriation have focused on providing additional revenue to fund a career ladder system for teacher pay and, to a lesser extent, on operational funding.

The facility bond levy includes constructing:

* A $10 million elementary school on the west side of Greensferry Road, north of Prairie View Elementary adjacent to the Fieldstone subdivision, to alleviate overcrowding at Prairie View and Ponderosa

* A $4 million second-story addition at River City Middle School to alleviate overcrowding

* A $2.5 million performing arts auditorium at Post Falls High

* A $2 million auxiliary gym at Post Falls High and

* A $1 million sum for a two-classroom addition at West Ridge; heating unit upgrades at Seltice, Frederick Post/New Vision and Mullan Trail; energy efficiency remodels at Mullan Trail and Frederick Post; and security system upgrades throughout the district.

The proposal comes after a 28-member committee reviewed the district's 2008 long-range facility plan last winter and recommended that the district act as quickly as possible on the projects.

The last time the district floated a facility bond was 2006. That measure led to the construction of West Ridge, an eight-classroom addition at Post Falls High and an update of the transportation facility.

District officials said there's a chance that taxes could even decrease slightly if both proposals pass.

"The variable is in the amount of increase in taxable values in the district," Keane said. "We conservatively project only a 2 percent increase in values. We will more than likely see at least a 5 percent increase in our values due to new construction."

In previous years, Keane said, the district has not held supplemental levy and bond levy proposals at the same time.

"Unfortunately, our facility needs are very time-sensitive and cannot be delayed," he said, referring to the decision to hold them at the same time.