On Tuesday, constituents in four Kootenai County school districts will be asked to vote on levy measures.

Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Lakeland and Kootenai school districts are all on the ballot.

Those who live in the Coeur d'Alene School District will be voting on a $20 million-per-year replacement/supplemental levy that will provide $40 million over two years. The present $20 million-per-year two-year replacement levy expires June 30.

This levy supports services and positions not covered by state money, including: school nurses; mental health professionals; technology for students and staff; half of the funding for Kootenai Technical Education Campus, which is also funded by Post Falls and Lakeland districts; music, art and P.E. classes; advanced classes to prepare students for college and careers; athletics and extracurriculars; and school resource and campus safety officers.

In Post Falls, residents will vote on a $4.955 million-per-year replacement/supplemental levy that will provide the Post Falls School District with $9.91 million over two years. It will take the place of the current levy that expires on June 30.

These funds account for about 7.5% of the district’s budget. These funds pay for staffing, transportation and programming needs. Post Falls needs two or three new buses a year, and each bus costs more than $100,000. Student services, school resource officers and nursing staff are also supported by levy funds.

Those in the Lakeland Joint School District will be asked to vote on a $9.5 million-per-year, two-year replacement levy that will provide the district with about $19 million in those two years. This levy is replacing the current $8.9 million-per-year levy, which expires at the end of the school year.

Levy funds help keep classes small and schools close to home. They support teachers and students by providing programs and services to meet student needs. They address staff, student, parent and patron priorities. They support athletics, theater programs and choir activities.

The Kootenai School District is asking voters to cast ballots for a $725,000-per-year supplemental maintenance and operations levy that will provide $1.45 million in two years. The current $750,000 levy expires June 30. This year's levy ask is reduced "because we understand some of our community may be struggling due to economic hardship caused by the pandemic," according to a levy PowerPoint presentation on www.ksd-id.schoolloop.com, the district's website.

These funds will be used to continue having a school resource officer, maintain a five-day full-time kindergarten, improve playground equipment, maintain a high level of internet and other technical services, retain quality teachers and staff and for maintenance, groundskeeping and building/facility repair.

Because of the expanding tax base as North Idaho's population grows, homeowners are not expected to see notable increases on their tax bills, if the levies are approved. Some may even see their tax bill go down.

The logic and accuracy test of election equipment will be held at the Kootenai County Elections Office at 10 a.m. Monday. It is open to the public.

Absentee ballots can be returned to the elections office by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. County Clerk Jim Brannon said poll workers cannot accept ballots after 8 p.m.

“8 p.m. means 8 p.m., not 8 p.m. and 30 seconds. 8 p.m. is when we close the box,” he said. "We have a hard deadline."

For this election, 4,953, absentees were requested. In 2019, only 2,058 absentees were sent.

Visit www.kcgov.us/321/Polling-Place-Look-Up to find your polling place.