BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Several rural counties in Idaho are set to receive a total of $26.9 million in funds from the federal Secure Rural Schools program, the Idaho congressional delegation and state treasurer Julie Ellsworth announced this week.
Idaho received the third-highest total in the U.S., behind California and Oregon.
“I appreciate our delegation and the work they do for Idaho to secure this appropriation,” Ellsworth said in a press release sent Tuesday. “This funding is so important to our rural communities and my office is working to get these dollars into the hands of our Idaho counties.”
The funds are meant to benefit schools and infrastructure maintenance in counties with federal lands exempt from property taxes. Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act in 2000 to help stabilize the funds available to rural communities.
The funds are administered by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and are distributed based on a formula that includes economic activity and timber harvest levels, according to the release from Sen. Mike Crapo’s office.
“Because of Idaho’s abundance of national forests and federal lands where federal taxes are not collected, many rural counties in Idaho depend on the payments provided through SRS as an alternative source of education funding,” U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, said in the release. “We must keep the promises we make to states and localities, and I’m pleased to see these funds allocated to our rural Idaho communities.”
Ada County received a little over $3,000 due to activity from the Boise National Forest, according to the Forest Service final report of service receipts. Under Idaho law, 30% of the funds can go to counties for schools and the remaining 70% is earmarked for roads, bridges, and other infrastructure projects, the release said.
Idaho County — which includes the Clearwater, Nez Perce, Payette, Salmon, Bitterroot and Wallowa national forests — is slated to get around $7.5 million from the program. Around $6.3 million of this will go toward school and highway districts, around $597,000 will go to Forest Service and other federal land projects, and about $522,300 will go to fire mitigation and search and rescue, according to Idaho County Clerk Kathy Ackerman and the Forest Service report.
Boise County is set to receive $991,106 and Elmore County will get nearly $1.4 million. Valley County, which includes the Payette, Boise, and Salmon national forests, is slated to receive around $1.9 million.
The funds are split into three categories; Title I funds are for roads and schools, Title II for projects on federal lands, and Title III are for county projects, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Valley County Commissioner Sherry Maupin said the county will distribute the funds to schools based on the program’s share allocation. Valley County received a total of $1.6 million in Title I funds.
Maupin said the around $135,000 in Title III money will be used for wildfire mitigation and the remaining funds will go to the road department for operational funding.
“Valley County does not collect property taxes for road maintenance. We use State revenue share, gas tax and SRS funding to fund our department,” Maupin said in an email.
Adams County, which includes Payette National Forest and the cities of Council and New Meadows, will get around $819,000. Adams County Clerk Sherry Ward said these federal funds have always been earmarked for road and bridge maintenance.
About $1.5 million will be directed to Clearwater County, with about $1.2 million of that for schools and roads. Clearwater County Treasurer Dawn Erlewine said the county commissioners will decide how exactly these funds are distributed.
In eastern Idaho, Caribou County is set to receive a total of around $374,000 from the program. Bonneville County will get about $323,200, according to the Forest Service report.
Around $129,900 will go to Bannock County.
U.S. Senators for Idaho, Republicans Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, both wrote in statements that these funds are important for local schools but called for another solution to the issue.
“Infrastructure and education in Idaho’s rural counties benefit greatly from SRS payments, but a permanent solution is needed,” Crapo said in the press release. “Adequate funding for schools, roads and infrastructure repair will only be guaranteed once we can reach agreement on a self-contained funding mechanism outside the yearly votes in Congress, and we are working toward the goal of a more permanent solution.”
Risch said, “While I am pleased these payments have been secured for important improvement projects and wildfire prevention efforts, we must continue to fight for a lasting solution our communities can count on.”
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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