MERIDIAN, Idaho — As students head back to class, a look at West Ada School District shows how changes in state funding have reduced the amount some homeowners pay directly to the district through property taxes while students continue to outperform statewide averages on standardized tests.
Earlier this summer, West Ada School District trustee David Binetti used cash to demonstrate how much one homeowner's direct property tax contribution to the district had changed.
For the specific property Binette used as an example, $5.76 of the homeowner's 2025 property tax bill went directly to West Ada School District. A year earlier, that amount was $134.12 – a drop of about 95%. But that does not mean West Ada simply lost that funding.
WATCH: What do West Ada taxpayers get for their education dollars?
In 2023, Idaho lawmakers passed House Bill 292, directing more state money toward school facilities and property tax relief.
"The fact that we can also do it while reducing our taxes 95% ... We're doing everything that we can to perform as best we can with the rules that we're given," Binetti said.
Binette said another measure of the district's performance is what is happening in the classroom.
West Ada students continue to test above statewide averages. On the most recent Idaho Standards Achievement Test, 70% of West Ada students tested proficient or advanced in English language arts, compared with 53.2% statewide. In math, 58% of West Ada students tested proficient or advanced, compared with 42.3% statewide.
West Ada ranked No. 1 in English language arts, math and science among Idaho's largest school districts.
"The function and the primary job that we have to do as a school district is to make sure that our children are college and career ready," Binetti said. "And so that's the actual part that I'm the most proud of, not necessarily that we can be responsible for taxpayers. That's obviously important."
Binette said the district has also looked for ways to cut costs.
"Our administrators were able to identify some savings in our transportation budget," Binetti said. "And it wasn't just a little. It was $2 million in savings."
For context, Binette also pulled the property tax bill for a similarly valued home in Boise School District. That homeowner's 2025 bill showed roughly $1,200 going directly to Boise School District.
The figures are not an apples-to-apples comparison of the districts' overall funding. Boise School District has a different local tax structure, and the amounts represent what two specific homeowners paid directly to their respective school districts – not the districts' total budgets or what they spend to educate each student.
For West Ada, the numbers provide one way to see how the district's funding mix has changed as it continues to serve nearly 40,000 students.
The district also continues to grow, with the new Independence Elementary School in Star opening for the 2026-27 school year.
