NAMPA, Idaho — Nampa voters rejected a proposed permanent $5 million annual levy for the city's police department on Tuesday.
About 54.5% of voters opposed the measure, while 45.4% supported it. The levy needed at least 60% voter approval to pass.
The proposal would have provided ongoing funding to recruit and retain police officers and other public safety personnel, as well as improve public safety facilities.
What would the $5 million levy have funded?
If approved, the Nampa Police Department planned to hire 24 additional officers over four years. The department would have added eight officers in each of the first two years, followed by four officers in each of the next two years.
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The proposal also included a one-time 4% cost-of-living adjustment for department employees and funding for a new police training facility.
Deputy Chief Curt Shankel previously told Idaho News 6 that staffing shortages have forced officers assigned to specialty units to cover patrol shifts, leaving some of their regular duties unfinished.
Shankel said the department had lost 13 officers to neighboring agencies over the past four years, citing pay and benefits as factors contributing to those departures.
He also emphasized that levy funding would not have been used to purchase cameras or license plate readers.
"This money will never go towards those," Shankel said.
How much would the levy have cost taxpayers?
The levy would have cost property owners an estimated $28.93 annually for every $100,000 of taxable assessed property value, based on estimates provided ahead of the election.
For a property with a taxable assessed value of $300,000, that would have amounted to approximately $86.79 per year.
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