BONNERS FERRY — Voters have rejected a $4.8 million, two-year supplemental levy proposed by the Boundary County School District.

The proposed levy received 2,864 "no" votes, or 51.24%, to 2,725 "yes" votes, or 48.76%. It needed a simple majority, or 50% plus one, to pass.

"The board will decide where to go from here with input from our leadership team," BCSD Superintendent Jan Bayer said. "I am sure there will be time for public input as we move forward."

The measure, which would have replaced the existing levy, asked for $2.4 million per year. The current levy will expire June 30, 2027. Funds from the maintenance and operations levy make up about 12% to 15% of the district’s general fund.

Levy funds would have gone toward safety, maintenance and security measures, roughly $200,000 per year; extra- and co-curricular activities, $450,000 per year; salaries and benefits, $1,385,000 per year; curricular materials, $135,000 per year; technology, $85,000 per year; and a new bus, $130,000.

Textbooks, supplies, computers and software licenses are included in those costs.

"Basically, if we don't run a levy and we keep where we're at, by the end of the first fiscal year, we'd be down to a million dollars in reserve funds," BCSD Superintendent Jan Bayer said at the July 20 school board meeting.

That amount would cover less than a month of current spending and program levels, Bayer told the board at that meeting.

If approved, the average annual cost of the levy would have been $93 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value per year, school district officials said.

"We can, with 100% certainty, run reports and show you this is what we spent the money on and if we don't get that money, those items are gone," Bayer told trustees at a past meeting.