RATHDRUM - Lakeland Joint School District voters will consider a two-year supplemental levy on March 11.

The school board will float a proposal of $4.795 million per year, which is a reduction of $155,000 per year from the current levy.

"The board sees the necessity of continuing the levy in order to provide adequate services to our students," said Tim Skubitz, a school board member. "We are very proud of our high-performing district. We are also very sensitive to the taxing demands of homeowners. That is why the recommended levy was to be slightly lower than the previous one (approved) in 2012."

The owner of a $200,000 home would pay $275.23 per year ($22.94 per month) to fund the levy. That would be a reduction of $11.72 per year from the current levy.

"The Lakeland school district services many communities from Bayview to Hauser and our constituents have said loud and clear that they appreciate and want small schools," Skubitz said. "There's a bit more cost to running smaller neighborhood schools, but we find that there's great value."

A simple majority vote (50 percent, plus one) is needed for the proposal to pass.

Tom Taggart, the district's finance director, said the funding is intended to supplement money received from the state and would be spent on programs and supplies throughout the district.

"It helps pay for everything," Taggart said. "We used to run levies for very specific purposes, but we haven't been able to do that for the past six years."

Skubitz said, if the levy fails, "drastic" cuts would have to be made that would result in larger class sizes, shelving some programs and even possibly merging some schools. The supplemental levy would represent more than 20 percent of the district's General Fund budget.

Taggart said districts are expected to receive an increase in funding from the state, but multiple factors are preventing Lakeland from returning to the days in which no levies, or only much-smaller levies for specific projects, were needed.

Lakeland's student enrollment, which determines how much the district will receive from the state, has declined from 4,444 in fiscal 2008 to 4,078 this year. The opening of the new charter school in Rathdrum and families moving out of the district to be closer to work have been cited by the district as some of reasons for the decline.

Meanwhile, reductions in federal programs are expected to continue and district costs such as utilities, wages and benefits have increased.

Lakeland voters have approved the past three supplemental levy proposals, but the margin has gone down each time. In 2008, a levy was passed with 76 percent approval; in 2010, 69 percent; and in 2012, 52.7 percent.

"I think it is very important that these numbers are seriously considered when setting the amount of the new levy," Taggart said. "Considering our low margin of victory last election, I would be hesitant to take an increase to voters. I would prefer to see some reduction in the amount with a commitment to keep reduction of the levy a priority as we move ahead."

The school board also considered a levy for $4.95 million - the same amount as the current levy - before opting to send the smaller proposal to voters.

The Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene school districts won't float supplemental levies this year as voters in those districts approved levies last year.