TWIN FALLS, Idaho β Several Magic Valley school districts are dealing with discrepancies between what appears on election ballots and what they say voters will actually pay for proposed levies and bonds.
WATCH: Filer School District says two upcoming levies would lower taxes despite what the ballot says
WATCH: Minidoka Superintendent of Schools says upcoming ballot doesn't reflect all the facts
The confusion stems from state tax relief funds that help offset property tax costs, but a 2024 state law limits what school districts can communicate about these funds on ballots.
WATCH: Idaho School Levy Ballot Confusion Explained: What Voters Need to Know β
"It's very hard even for people like me to track it, let alone average everyday people who are not nerding out on school policies and tax policies," said Quinn Perry, deputy director of the Idaho School Board Association.
The issue traces back to House Bill 574, legislation that outlines what Idaho school districts can and cannot include on ballots. The law requires ballots to reflect the highest possible cost for property owners, even though the actual cost would be much lower due to state tax relief funds.
"A lot of that is due to a law passed in 2024 that really limited what school districts can say about the tax relief funds that they receive that is intended to go to offset what the property taxpayers are having to actually pay," Perry said.
"Specifically, they are not allowed to include that tax relief fund because the legislature, I think in an attempt to create some transparency, inadvertently made to where school districts are not able to adequately communicate about that tax relief money that helps offset the taxpayers," she said.
The discrepancies are substantial in some districts. In Minidoka County, Superintendent Spencer Larson said the ballot shows $127 per $100,000 of assessed value, but the actual rate with offset dollars would be $15.43.
Similarly, Filer Superintendent Kelli Schroeder noted that while property owners previously paid $50 per $100,000 of assessed value, the new proposals would actually lower that cost to $13 when accounting for state relief funds.
The legislature appropriated about $236 million to the tax relief fund this year, but school districts can only estimate how much money will be available to offset costs.
"We know that the legislature appropriated about 236 million dollars to that fund this year, so they can use their best guess at how much money will likely be there," Perry said. "But they're not going to be able to put in on the actual ballot because of that limitation passed in House Bill 574."
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