Twin Falls School District Superintendent explains the importance of this elections levy renewal

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The Twin Falls School District will pursue a renewal of their current supplemental levy in the March 14th election.

The levy is a two-year levy in the amount of $5.7 million dollars. This levy supports all aspects of district programs including safety and security, student activities, and staffing.

Twin Falls School District Superintendent Brady Dickinson told KMVT with the levy already in place it would be hard to maintain current staffing if the levy fails and they lose that $5.7 million.

Without the levy, the district would potentially need to make staffing cuts.

“So, it’s really hard to make up $5.7 million out of a budget when 80% of all of the expenses for the district are in staffing,” said Dickinson. “So, yeah, you could make some operational cuts but you’re not going to get the $5.7 million in those types of reductions.”

Dickinson also addressed Gov. Brad Little’s ‘Idaho First’ plan, which directs $330 million from sales tax collections to public school education each year. He said he is hopeful that will help moving forward but they are waiting to see what the legislature is going to do with the money allocated toward education.

“We didn’t ask for an increase in the levy this year anticipating that we would have additional money come from the state,” said Dickinson. “But we have a really big need in our district right now to address inflation, especially in the area of our classified staff.”

He said classified staff includes secretaries, custodians, and paraprofessionals.

The levy needs a simple majority, 50%, to pass. The amount property owners pay in Twin Falls would not increase if this levy were renewed. The current levy costs taxpayers approximately $6.25 per month on $100,000 of taxable property value.

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