HAZELTON, Idaho — The Valley School District is asking voters to renew a $1.5 million plant facilities levy on November 3, with officials saying the funding is critical for maintaining the roughly 500-student rural Idaho school.
The levy would provide $300,000 per year for five years, replacing the current levy set to expire in 2027.
If approved, homeowners would see a decrease in their tax rate — dropping from $101.42 to $74.81 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, a difference of $26.61. The levy needs 55% of the vote to pass.
WATCH: Valley School District asks voters to renew a $1.5M plant facilities levy on Nov. 3 to fund ongoing maintenance at the 70-year-old school.
Valley School District Superintendent Ty Jones said the current levy has allowed the district to quickly address costly repairs at the more than 70-year-old school.
"$100,000 worth of plumbing issues just last year and we probably had close to $100,000 in heating and HVAC," Jones said.
Jones took me below the school to show what the Valley Vikings have been dealing with, starting with changes to the building's aging mechanical systems.
"So, you are in the early part of the building built in the early 50s — 1954 — we used to have a great big boiler over here... you can now see the much smaller pump that is there now," Jones said.
The basement has also seen significant flooding.
"We had a flood here last year that took out — it was probably two to three feet deep," Jones said.
"We had some plumbing issues in this particular tunnel, and I did not go back there because I didn't want to... the pipes in there got cracked, and so they had to go in and fix a lot of those," Jones said.
While the majority of the building was remodeled in the 1990s, maintenance issues continue to surface every year — even inside classrooms.
Fifth grade teacher Katelynn Baumert said a leak in her classroom sink last year forced her out of her classroom for three months.
"We had to move everything out of here; this whole wall was completely taken down — at Christmas I do a pancake party, so it was super important that we had running water," Baumert said.
Jones said without the plant facilities levy, none of those repairs would have been possible.
"General maintenance is the easiest way to say it, $300,000 per year for five years," Jones said.
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