PONDERAY — The question of whether to make the Lake Pend Oreille School District’s maintenance and operations supplemental levy permanent will be up to the voters in November.

LPOSD board members approved ballot language on Tuesday and, if approved, the current two year, $25.4 million levy would become permanent starting on July 1, 2021. This means that the district would be able to levy up to $12.7 million per year indefinitely.

“All we are doing is making a decision to let the voters decide,” said LPOSD board chair Cary Kelly. “We want the voters to weigh in on this and I feel it is kind of our responsibility to do that, to let them vote on it.”

The two-year, $25.4 million levy was approved by voters in March and makes up 35 percent of the district’s general fund budget for fiscal year 2020, which began July 1. To qualify for a permanent levy, districts must have a supplemental levy in place for seven consecutive years, and it must represent 20 or more percent of the district’s general fund revenue. If the indefinite term is approved in November, the board could lower the amount in future years if state funding provided for it, though they could not levy more without going back to the voters for approval.

During the district’s last meeting in July, board members heard from a number of community members regarding the indefinite term proposal. One of the concerns raised by community members was whether the district would continue the same level of transparency regarding what the levy dollars fund each year.

“There is a sense that if we go to an indefinite term levy that we would not be as communicative with the community on how that money is being spent,” said LPOSD board co-chair Geraldine Lewis. “I don’t know the best way to assure the community that is not the case ... going to an indefinite term levy would not mean in any way that the dollar amounts are not reported as thoroughly, that we would not have the complete transparency that we have every two years.”

Lisa Hals, the district’s chief financial and operations officer, said the supplemental levy is a separate fund within the annual budget, and as the district’s accounting software is set up to do that, it will not change in the future. LPOSD is possibly the only district in Idaho that elects to separate the funds, Hals said, as it is not a state requirement.

Another concern Lewis addressed was the possibility of the district raising the amount in the future. However, board members and district officials can not make a financial statement beyond fiscal year 2020 or dictate what future board members might choose to do, Hals said.

“We certainly hope we are not going to have to come to the community every two years for money,” Kelly said. “... We don’t want to come to the public and ask routinely for more money to increase that.”

LPOSD Superintendent Tom Albertson said they can not make a definitive statement as well because there are “so many unknowns” regarding funding at the state level from year to year.

“I think it is really important that we have our community and our patrons trust in the decision that we make, and trust that we are spending that money wisely,” Albertson said. “... What I see is any increase in that $12.7 million would be in a much smaller amount, very defined, and they would know exactly what specifically the need would be — it cannot be increased without voter approval.”

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.