Idaho school districts will receive $180 million to offset local, voter-approved property taxes.
That’s less than the Legislature earmarked for property tax relief this year. But it’s also more than the schools received last year.
The money, distributed Thursday, is a byproduct of House Bill 292, a convoluted property tax relief law passed in 2023. The law siphons state dollars into a fund to pay down school bonds and levies.
The state will put $180.8 million into the school district facilities fund this year.
Lawmakers had appropriated $246.4 million for the fund. Payments will come up short, however, and the main reason is becoming familiar. State tax collections, which account for part of the money for the fund, are falling below projections.
When lawmakers earmarked $246.4 million for school property tax relief, they were hoping to have $88.1 million in sales taxes to put into the fund. However, the state will have only $26.6 million in sales taxes available for this fund.
Sluggish tax collections are one driving factor behind the state’s most serious financial crunch in five years. The state is facing a deficit of at least $79.9 million this year — which has prompted Gov. Brad Little to impose midyear spending cuts across much of state government.
However, it’s not unprecedented for the school property tax relief fund to fall below projections. The same thing happened last year, Gideon Tolman, the Idaho Department of Education’s chief fiscal officer, said in an email Thursday.
A year ago, schools received $140.9 million from the school property tax relief fund, Tolman said.
Schools are limited in how they can spend money from the fund.
They must first use the state’s money to pay down bond issues for buildings. Schools without a bond can apply the state money to pay down supplemental levies or plant facilities levies that are used for maintenance and repairs. Schools with no bonds or levies can bank their payments for future building projects.
Money is distributed based on student attendance. West Ada, the state’s largest district, will receive nearly $25.7 million. Three Creek, a tiny elementary district near the Idaho-Nevada border, will receive about $3,600. (Click here for a district-by-district breakdown.)