MERIDIAN, Idaho — The West Ada School District has a two-year, $14 million levy on the November general election ballot.
The levy is supplementary to the district's general budget, according to West Ada's Chief Information Officer Char Jackson. The levy is intended to replace an expiring levy of the same value; approving the levy will not result in an increase to taxpayers.
"There is not a difference. This is just a renewal of that levy. The funding of it is used for our general operations. In West Ada, about 85% of our costs are for salary and benefits. So this levy is 5% of the general funding for the district," Jackson said.
West Ada officials said the money is crucial to maintaining typical operations within the district. West Ada's operating costs have risen year-to-year, according to Jackson; however, the supplemental levy has remained at or below $14 million since 2011.
"I think the reality is that we could just look at cutting some school days. reducing staff, or reducing staff days. That's all things that we definitely don't want to look on doing if at all possible," Jackson explained. "We want to keep our class sizes small, we want to retain all of our staff. It's just really important that we have that 5% so we can continue to fund the current programs we have in place that are doing so much good."
Renewing the levy would extend the levy through June of 2024. The expiring levy ends June 30, 2022.
For more information on this levy or other items on the November ballot, visit KTVB voters' guide.
Election day is November 2.
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