Government and civic life
🏫 Idaho School Boards, Budgets, Bonds and Levies
How Idaho school districts are governed and funded: trustee zones and elections, the budget cycle, state funding, supplemental and plant facilities levies, bonds and the two-thirds rule. Read a district budget, follow the money and know what districts may and may not say in a bond campaign.
- 1How Idaho School Districts Are GovernedWhat an Idaho school district is in law, how many districts and charter schools the state has, who decides what among trustees, superintendents, the State Board, the state superintendent, the Legislature and the Charter School Commission, and how trustee numbers, zones, officers, powers and limits work under Title 33.22 min
- 2Trustee Elections, Zones and VacanciesWhen and how Idaho school trustees are elected under 33-503 and the uniform district election law, how zone voting, filing, write-ins and nonpartisan ballots work, how boards fill vacancies under 33-504, how a trustee recall works under Title 34 Chapter 17, and what real Idaho trustee races and recalls show about turnout.22 min
- 3The School Budget Cycle and HearingsThe Idaho school district money year from the Legislature's appropriation to levy certification: the July 1 fiscal year, the 33-801 budget hearing and its notice rules, mid-year amendments that need 60 percent of the board, the annual financial statement and audit deadlines, website transparency under 33-357, and how a certified budget becomes a levy rate under 63-803.24 min
- 4State Funding and Recent ChangesWhere Idaho school money comes from, how the support unit formula, salary-based apportionment, the career ladder and discretionary funds turn attendance into dollars, the size of the fiscal 2026 and 2027 public schools budgets, the facilities and tax credit laws of 2023 to 2026, the Idaho Supreme Court's February 5, 2026 tax credit decision, and the ISEEO school funding cases.26 min
- 5Supplemental Levies: The Local Vote That Pays for Staff and ProgramsHow an Idaho school supplemental levy works under Idaho Code 33-802: majority approval, the two-year limit and the indefinite-term exception, the May and November election dates, the ballot disclosures in 33-802B and 34-914, how the dollar amount becomes a tax rate, how state facilities money now pays part of the bill, and what recent Idaho levy votes show.24 min
- 6Plant Facilities and the Other School LeviesEvery other property tax an Idaho school district can levy: the plant facilities reserve levy and its sliding 55, 60 and two-thirds thresholds, the 20-year safe schools version, the emergency levy for enrollment growth, tort, judgment, tuition, migrant and cooperative service levies, the state facilities funds created in 2023 and 2024, the end of bond levy equalization, and how all of it stacks on one tax bill.25 min
- 7School Bonds and the Two-Thirds RuleHow an Idaho school district borrows for buildings: the two-thirds vote in Article VIII, Section 3 of the Idaho Constitution and its exceptions, the bond process under Title 33 Chapter 11 and the 34-913 ballot disclosures, debt limits and amortization rules, the School Bond Guaranty, refinancing and the limits on lease-purchase, proposals to lower the threshold, and the record of recent Idaho bond votes.27 min
- 8What Districts May and May Not Say About Their Own Bonds and LeviesHow Idaho's Public Integrity in Elections Act and the bond and levy disclosure laws decide what a school district, its trustees and its staff may say about a bond or levy, how the line has been enforced in Idaho Falls, Twin Falls and elsewhere, how private committees register and report, and where a resident takes a complaint.32 min
- 9Reading a District Budget and Financial ReportsHow an Idaho school district's money is organized under the state's IFARMS chart of accounts, what the revenue and spending lines mean, how to do per-pupil and fund balance math, where every budget, report and audit is published, and what to ask at the budget hearing, with a real district statement and an invented one worked line by line.34 min
- 10Records, Meetings and Real Idaho Bond and Levy ExamplesWhich school district records to request about budgets, bonds, contracts, construction and enrollment, how the Open Meeting Law and executive sessions apply to school boards, how to follow a bond from facility study to finished building, what recent Idaho bond and levy elections show, and a final checklist, ending with verified statewide numbers and charts.36 min