During bond and levy season, school district officials often claim the state provides no funding for construction projects.

That’s not exactly true.

According to Tim Hill, the state’s associate deputy superintendent for public school finance, the Bond Levy Equalization Support Program that was passed in 2002 offers some relief to property taxpayers that may not be in the best financial position to pay off a bond.

To determine funding levels for the program, the state uses a formula that looks at market values per support unit, per capita income and unemployment within individual school districts, Hill said.

The Coeur d’Alene School District received $66,293.23 in 2016 for two separate bonds it’s paying off.

Hill acknowledged that’s not a lot of money when you’re talking about multi-million dollar bonds.

“It’s not huge, but let’s personalize it,” he told The Press. “Say you have a car loan. Your parents give you some money to help pay off that loan... You don’t want to be rude and be like ‘Gee, that’s not going to take care of my whole payment,’ but every little bit helps, right?”

Brian Wallace, the Coeur d’Alene School District’s director of finance and operations, said the funds probably only save individual taxpayers pennies per year, perhaps even less.

Wallace said if payments are maintained, the district will receive $861,809 from the state over 13 years to help pay for $29 million worth of bonds and an additional $8 million in interest.

“So, over the course of our debt service, bond equalization will cover 10.5 percent of our interest costs and 2.3 percent of our total debt service,” Wallace said in an email to The Press. “Local dollars will cover 89.5 percent of our interest costs and 97.7 percent of our total debt service.”

Bonds provide financing to fund large construction projects and equipment purchases for government agencies. Bonds need 66.67 percent of votes to pass. Idaho school districts rely on local taxpayers to pay for construction projects because, as they’ve said, they don’t receive (much) funding from the state to do them.

Hill said the average payment to the 55 qualifying school districts in 2016 was $392,000 — a total of $21.6 million. Some districts received a lot less than $392,000, and some considerably more.

The Bond Levy Equalization Support Program, which provides funds only for bonds, not levies, is funded by lottery dollars and the state general fund. When asked by The Press how this program isn’t taxing property owners twice, Hill didn’t argue that it wasn’t.

“I’m not suggesting they’re not getting taxed twice,” he said, explaining that the state’s general fund is funded by income tax and sales tax. “The Legislature takes some of that money and appropriates it to the public schools or bond payments to reduce the public’s taxes for those individuals in those school districts that qualify.”

The Lakeland School District received $39,418.45 in 2016 from the program. The district is now paying off two bonds worth $12.445 million plus $3.162 million in interest.

The Post Falls School District received $215,343.79 in 2016 from the program. The district is paying off two bonds worth $27.165 million plus $12.84 million of interest.

School officials agree every penny does help, but funds from the Bond Levy Equalization Support Program are minimal, especially compared to the support Washington provides its school districts for construction projects. Washington has a program that can match the funds a district puts into its construction projects.

According to the Post Falls School District’s director of business services, Sid Armstrong, to say Idaho doesn’t provide any funding for school construction projects is “not quite technically true on a reimbursement level.”

“You get some interest costs covered, but you’re not getting anything on the front end to build your school,” he said. “So it doesn’t build your school, but every bit helps.”

The Coeur d’Alene School District is seeking a bond measure Tuesday for a variety of construction projects including building a new elementary school. The district has repeatedly said “the state provides no funding for this purpose.”

Superintendent Matt Handelman told The Press he and his district stand behind what they’ve said.

“If the state wants to say they provide funding for construction projects, OK, but the facts are that what they are paying for is 10 percent of the interest of a bond,” he said, noting a bond still has to pass before school districts receive any money and the funds don’t go into the district's general fund. “If someone wants to get into the nuances, we are open to discussion.”