[Vision2020] m & o levy of district 281

[Stephen Cooke]

Dear Visionaries,
	RE the MSD cmte for Goodwill and Conciliation proposal to "agree to
re-run the contested indefinite levy as an ordinary maintenance and
operations levy" if Dr. Weitz agrees to drop his lawsuit against the Moscow
School District. (See  the petition at Moscow Public Library)
	To my knowledge, the Moscow School District (MSD) does not have the
legislative authority to request an "ordinary" (defined by me as temporary
or annual) m & o expenditure using property taxes in the district. To
support schools beyond the level of state funds to the district, the MSD
Board can neither levy annual property taxes nor request that citizens of
the district to vote an annual levy upon themselves. Last August, a one-day
special session of the Idaho legislature took away this right when they
voted to remove a funding-formula-mandated 3 mils from the local property
tax rate for schools and replaced it with state General Fund revenue using a
penny increase in the sales tax rate. (I spoke out against the 3 mil
proposal because of this loss of local control, because it was a give away
to businesses, and because it hurt renters.)
	The MSD Board asked for a supplemental to a permanent override
because it is the only way MSD has to levy property taxes in support of the
schools. (Overrides become permanent after they have passed 3 years in a
row, which MSD achieved about 15 years ago). A supplemental is needed from
time to time to offset the effects of inflation on the fixed-amount
permanent override.  I complained about this clumsy public finance option
for school districts in my letter to the Daily News in support of the
override this past winter. 
	The right to raise revenue from property taxes by the MSD turns on
the principle of home rule. MSD only has the rights that the Idaho
legislature gives it. A school district is not like a state that has rights
based in the constitution. Similar to states, citizens have constitutional
rights from The Bill of Rights. However, the state constitution does not
give school districts rights, the legislature does. There are two or three
exceptions: Boise, Lewiston, and one other. These "charter districts"
existed before Idaho did. These school districts look to their charters and
not to the legislature for authority to raise revenue. This is why you never
hear the Boise school district complain about Idaho tax code re. schools.
The BSD can and does have an annual or ordinary m&o levy similar to the one
requested by the petitioners in Moscow. Lewiston school district has chosen
not to exercise their right.
	For MSD the rules are set by the legislature. The legislature does
not want school districts to raise taxes easily so they require them to pass
permanent override levies by major vote (50%+1) of the citizen in the
district three times consecutively. (Bond levies for school buildings, on
the other hand, takes a 2/3 majority. This is why the school building are in
such bad shape.) Fewer than half a dozen school districts in Idaho have
permanent override levies. Moscow is the only district with a supplemental
to a permanent override. The law is so vague because it is so seldom used.
Ironically, now that MSD voters have overcome all these legislative
obstacles to local school funding, there are now those among us who want to
make the supplemental to the permanent override . temporary. This is like
telling the winner of the high hurdles before receiving their gold medal
they must also win the pole vault. 

This is what makes politics so interesting to me. 
Let the games continue.

Steve Cooke
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