Levies and Bonds: Supplementals, Plant Facilities, Overrides and Debt

A levy is permission to collect property tax for a purpose. A bond is borrowed money, and the levy that repays it. Voters approve both, but they behave differently: a levy ends when its term ends, while a bond levy stays on the bill until the last payment, often 20 years out. Anyone who blurs the two, on a mailer or at a forum, gives voters the wrong idea of what they are voting on.

School levies

Idaho school districts get most operating money from the state. Locally, their property tax comes mostly from levies voters approve. The main ones:

Levy	What it pays for	Vote	Term and limits	Statute
Supplemental (often called an override)	Operations: teachers, programs, maintenance	Majority	Specified dollar amount, up to two years. A district with seven straight years of supplementals at 20 percent or more of its operating fund may ask for an indefinite one. No levy rate limit.	33-802(3), (5)
Plant facilities	Building, repairing or saving for school facilities	55, 60 or 66 2/3 percent, depending on the combined facilities and bond levy	Up to 0.4 percent of market value a year, up to ten years	33-804
Bond levy	Principal and interest on school bonds	Two-thirds	Until the bonds are paid	33-802(1), 33-1103, Idaho Const. art. VIII, sec. 3
Emergency fund	Enrollment growth over the prior year, computed by formula	No election; the board certifies the need and publishes notice	Levy rate limit of 0.0006, per the Tax Commission	33-805

The plant facilities thresholds in 33-804 depend on what the total of plant facilities plus bond levies would be, as a share of market value as of December 31 of the prior year:

• Less than 0.2 percent: 55 percent yes votes needed.
• 0.2 percent or more and less than 0.3 percent: 60 percent.
• 0.3 percent or more: two-thirds.

Overrides for cities, counties and special districts

Non-school districts can ask voters to go past the 63-802 limit from lesson 5. A temporary override needs a majority and lasts up to two years (63-802(3)). A permanent increase to the base needs 66 2/3 percent on a May or November date (63-802(1)(h)). Like school levies, voter-approved overrides sit outside the cap.

General obligation bonds and revenue bonds

Article VIII, Section 3 of the Idaho Constitution bars any county, city, school district or other subdivision from taking on debt beyond that year's income and revenue "without the assent of two-thirds" of voters at an election called for that purpose. It also requires a tax to pay the interest and to retire the principal within thirty years. Ordinary and necessary expenses authorized by general law are exempt. This is why general obligation bonds in Idaho need a two-thirds supermajority, for schools and everyone else.

	General obligation (GO) bond	Revenue bond
Repaid from	A property tax levy on everyone in the district	Rates and charges of one system, like water or sewer
Vote in Idaho	Two-thirds	Majority for water, sewer and treatment plants; two-thirds for city parking, recreation and air facilities; port districts need no vote
Shows up on	Your property tax bill	Your utility bill
Typical use	Schools, fire stations, jails, libraries	Water and sewer plants and lines
Interest cost	Often lower, because the whole property tax base backs it	Often somewhat higher, because only one revenue stream backs it

School districts also face a size limit. Under Idaho Code 33-1103, most districts that run both elementary and secondary schools may issue bonds up to 5 percent of market value, minus debt already outstanding. Other districts are held to 2 percent. That market value includes homes' exempt value, according to the Tax Commission.

The two-thirds math on election night

If 9,000 people vote on the Kestrel Valley bond, approval takes 9,000 x 2/3 = 6,000 yes votes. A bond that gets 5,940 yes votes, 66 percent, fails. Expect to see that happen someday. A majority of voters said yes, and the bond lost.

The supermajority is a real policy argument, and you should be able to state both sides. Supporters say long-term debt binds future owners and renters who did not vote, so it should need broad consent. They also note that the rule sits in the state constitution, so changing it takes a constitutional amendment approved by voters. Opponents say it lets just over a third of voters block projects most residents want, and that repeated failures leave districts paying higher construction prices later while students wait in portable classrooms or crowded buildings. Whichever side you are on, cite the vote count and the threshold together, and know the other side's best argument.

Election dates and ballot rules

Idaho Code 34-106 limits most elections to two dates a year: the third Tuesday in May and the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. A board can call an emergency election for a "great public calamity" such as a fire, flood or epidemic. Ballot language for a bond or levy must reach the county clerk by 5 p.m. on the tenth Friday before the election.

The calendar used to be wider. The 2023 property tax law, HB 292, removed the March election for school bonds, according to Ada County's summary of the bill. The Tax Commission reports that HB 521 in 2024 removed August elections for schools.

Disclosure rules are strict. For bonds, 34-913 requires an official statement on the ballot with the purpose, principal, anticipated interest rate, total repayment split into principal and interest, cost per $100,000 per year, the payoff period and the district's total existing debt. For levies, 34-914 requires the purpose, the annual dollar amount, the cost per $100,000 and the term. Any district mailing or posting about its measure to 20 or more voters must include most of the same figures. If a court finds a district did not comply, the court must declare the result invalid.

State facilities money

HB 292 also created the School District Facilities Fund, state money that reduces what school districts levy. Under the 2024 changes, districts must apply it to bond levies and temporary supplementals first, then plant facilities, per the Tax Commission. Because that money depends on future legislatures, 34-913 and 34-914 say a ballot can mention state relief funds only if a specific dollar amount is guaranteed, and must state the year the guarantee runs out.