Emma Epperly
Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on March 30, 2026
By: Emma Epperly
Idaho school districts are asking voters for more than $181 million this May.
The asks range from a $57 million bond in Kimberly to build a performing arts center to a $200,000 supplemental levy in Mackay to pay for athletics and building utilities over the course of two years.
The asks are more than double that of May 2025, where voters considered $75 million in ballot measures. It dwarfs November’s ballot measure asks, which came in at $159 million.
School districts can only ask voters for additional funding from property taxes in May and November. Election dates for schools were reduced from four to two by the legislature over the course of the 2023 and 2024 sessions.
EdNews reached out to county election offices statewide to compile this comprehensive list of school ballot measures.
The estimated tax burdens on sample ballots do not take into account property tax relief passed by the Legislature in 2024. Those funds must first be applied to any bonds, then plant facility levies, and then supplemental levies. If school districts do not have any tax measures on the books, the funds go into an account for facility projects. The amount of property tax relief districts receive varies year to year.
The below estimated tax rates, therefore, are the highest possible tax amount for the listed ballot measures. Learn more on the basics of bonds and levies here.
Bonds
Two districts sought bonds this May, totaling $61.6 million. Idaho is one of two states that require a supermajority of 66.7% or 2/3 in support for a bond to pass. A bond has not passed in Idaho since May 2024.
Kimberly
What: A $57.8 million, 30-year bond.
What’s at stake? The bond would pay for a new fine arts center and auditorium, gym, community field house, and athletic fields at Kimberly High School. The parking lots at both the high school and middle school would also be refinished.
Superintendent Luke Schroeder said the facilities would serve the whole community with community recreational space where the public can come play pick-up basketball, pickleball or walk on the track.
Impact: The bond would cost taxpayers $277 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Rockland
What: A $3.8 million, 10-year bond.
What’s at stake? The bond would pay for building renovations and the construction of a Career Technical Education and agriculture building. It would also cover a football field with a track and new lighting.
Impact: The bond would cost taxpayers $592 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Plant facilities levies
Four districts are seeking plant facilities levies — adding up to more than $47 million — for school facility maintenance and updates. Plant facility levies typically need 55% of the votes in favor to pass. They are listed alphabetically below.
American Falls
What: An average of $7.8 million, 10-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would pay for school maintenance, including lighting, heating and maintenance equipment. The levy would increase each year, starting at $695,564 the first year, up to $887,736, with an average of $788,528 per year. The district built in that 6% increase each year to cover the cost of inflation, said Superintendent Randy Jensen.
Jensen said that while the district isn’t behind on maintenance, these funds are essential for keeping up buildings and making them last. When state lawmakers gave schools capital project funds two years ago, they also took away districts’ lottery funds that were often used for building maintenance, Jensen noted. That change made the plant facilities levy more integral to the district’s budget.
“It’s probably more important than ever this year,” Jensen said.Impact: The levy would cost taxpayers $44 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. The levy would replace an expiring plant facility levy. See sample ballot here.
Kimberly
What: A $5 million, 10-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would pay for facility maintenance, including new HVAC units, resealing parking lots, and replacing school buses as they age out.
Superintendent Luke Schroeder said some upcoming expenses include replacing the high school’s 41-year-old stadium lights and bleachers in both the middle and high school gyms. The new levy would be a $200,000 per year increase from the expiring plant facility levy.
Schroeder said the increase is to cover inflated costs for things like HVAC units that have doubled in price from $5,000 to $10,000 over the law few years.
Impact: The levy would cost taxpayers $40 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value an increase of $16 from the expiring plant facility levy. See sample ballot here.
Lakeland
What: A $15 million, 5-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would pay for building maintenance and updates like new flooring, playground repairs, repairing cracks in gym walls, a new backup generator at replacing roofs.
Impact: The levy would cost taxpayers $30.24 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Payette
What: A $19.5 million, 10-year levy.
What’s at stake? The funds would largely pay for school updates like a new security vestibule at Payette Primary, resealing and repairing the McCain Middle parking lot and updating classrooms at Payette High School. The funds would also update the district’s sports facilities like adding a scoreboard and bleachers at the middle school, remodeling Dome gymnasium, and replacing stadium lights at Payette High.
Passing the new levy would revoke the levy’s current $495,000-a-year plant facility levy and replace it with the new, more expensive levy.
See the full plan here. Impact: The levy would cost taxpayers $157.44 per $100,000. See sample ballot here.
Supplemental levies
Twenty-seven districts are seeking supplemental levies — adding up to about $72 million. The levies largely pay the salaries and benefits of staff, above state allocations. Levies also commonly cover extracurricular activities. They require a simple majority or 50% to pass. The levies are listed alphabetically below.
Aberdeen
What: A $1.9 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for staff salaries and benefits at $700,000 a year. It would also pay for maintenance and custodial supplies, technology, School Resource Officer and safety/ security, classroom supplies and curriculum.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $201.78 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. The levy replaces an expiring levy of the same cost. See sample ballot here.
Bonneville
What: A $19.2 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for staff salaries and benefits with $2.5 million a year slated for support staff like paraeducators and another $990,000 for teachers and counselors. Another $1.2 million would pay for full-day kindergarten. Other big-ticket items include $900,000 for classroom supplies, $950,000 for coaches and other extracurricular activity advisors, and $950,000 for physical education and music programs.
Superintendent Scott Woolstenhulme said the increase in the supplemental levy is due in part to a return to an average daily attendance funding model after schools received funding based on enrollment during COVID.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $119.24 per $100,000 of taxable assessed property value. The levy would be an increase of $47.20 from the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Cassia
What: A $5.9 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for curriculum adoption and classroom supplies at just over $1 million per year. The rest of the funds would go to extracurricular activities at $1 million, safety and security at $745,000 and classroom equipment at $200,000.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $73.18 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Cottonwood
What: A $275,000, one-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for virtual speech, language pathologist services that also require an in-person paraeducator to supervise students at $100,000 per year. The levy would also pay for utilities, technology, substitute teachers, maintenance and subsidize the district’s food services.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $86.91 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, an increase of $27.65 from the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Culdesac
What: A $500,000, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for building maintenance at $104,015 per year. The levy would also cover student activities and clubs, supplies and materials, curriculum, technology, property and liability insurance, and purchased services.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $243.18 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, the same as the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Emmett
What: A $4.6 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for routine and emergency building maintenance at $1 million per year, with another $700,000 toward custodial services. The levy would also pay for nursing, K-5 behavioral support personnel, and supplemental curriculum and supplies.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $72.03 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Filer
What: A $1.3 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for staff salaries and benefits at $520,000. Extracurricular activities and supplies would receive $65,000 each.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $62.97 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Glenns Ferry
What: A $780,000, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely go to staff salaries and benefits at $245,000 per year. The rest of the funds would pay for curriculum, facility maintenance and technology.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $63 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, the same as the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Grangeville
What: A $805,000, one-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for extracurricular activities at $550,000. The levy funds would also purchase two vans for transporting small groups to extracurricular activities at $120,000. The rest of the funds would cover library staffing and discipline support staff.
The levy ask comes after a failed November ballot measure and ahead of the first year of Grangeville operating as its own school district.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $83.67 per $100,000 of taxable assessed property value, a reduction of $98.49 from the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Highland
What: A $1.2 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for classified staff salaries and benefits at $212,000 per year. Busing is the second largest expense at $150,000 per year. The rest of the levy funds would cover full-day kindergarten, extracurricular activities and the associated busing costs, career technical education programs, and curriculum.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $253.49 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, the same as the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Kellogg
What: A $7 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for staff salaries and benefits at $1.1 million per year. The funds would also cover transportation, nursing staff, janitorial services, and utilities for another $1.7 million. Another $694,000 would go to covering student programs like Junior ROTC, foreign language, athletics, full-day kindergarten, music and physical education.
The levy is for the same amount as a failed November 2025 supplemental levy request. Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $238.58 per $100,000 of taxable assessed valued, an increase of $93.26 from the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Mackay
What: A $200,000, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for athletics at $50,000 per year. The rest of the funds would cover classroom supplies, classified staff salaries and benefits and building utilities.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $32.90 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Madison
What: A $3.9 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for staff salaries and benefits at $995,000 per year. The rest of the funds would cover safety and technology, curriculum, and transportation.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $52.97 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, the same as the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Marsh Valley
What: A $2 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely cover curriculum at $350,000 per year. Other allocations include special education services at $240,000 and extracurricular activities at $250,000. Literary intervention and career technical education also would receive levy funds.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $42.10 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Middleton
What: A $3.9 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The majority of levy funds would pay staff salaries and benefits with $402,016 set aside for certified teachers and another $374,193 for classified staff, like paraeducators. Other line items include curriculum adoption, a school resource officer, transportation, technology, building maintenance, and covering a portion of pay-to-play extracurricular fees.
The ask comes after Middleton trustees decided to pursue a new state grant to build a new elementary school after years of failed bond measures. Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $31 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, an increase of $10 from the expiring levy. See sample ballot here.
Minidoka
What: A $7.7 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The majority of levy funds would pay for student activities and athletics at $1 million per year. The rest would cover student safety, academic programs and classroom support, school operations and maintenance, and transportation.
Impact? The levy would cost tax payers $122.71 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Nez Perce
What: A $445,000, one-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for staff salaries and benefits at $285,000. The rest of the funds would cover maintenance and transportation, and utilities.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $251 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, the same as the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Payette
What: A $1 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely cover a classified staff pay increase at $200,000. The rest would cover curriculum and technology and special education expenses at $150,000 each.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $40.37 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Preston
What: A $2.2 million, two-year levy
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay classified staff and substitute teacher salaries at $630,000 per year. Technology and nurse/ mental health services are also big-ticket items. The rest of the levy funds would pay for a school resource officer and extracurricular activities.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $81.50 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Richfield
What: A $360,000, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for classified staff, like paraprofessionals, salary and benefits at $100,000 per year. The rest would cover extra-curricular programs at $80,000.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $129.86 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, the same as the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Ririe
What: A $1 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for staff salaries and benefits at $222,000 per year. Another $110,000 each year would pay for a school resource officer. The rest of the levy would go toward purchasing a new bus, maintenance and curriculum.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $111 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, an increase of $17 from the expiring levy. See sample ballot here.
Salmon River
What: A $525,000, one-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay teacher staff salaries and benefits budgeted at $250,000. The rest would cover classified staff, including aides, janitorial staff, and coaches, at $150,000.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $148.69 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Shoshone
What: A $600,000, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for certified staff at $170,000 per year. The rest of the funds would cover athletics/ activities, transportation, supplies, and classified staff.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $74.54 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, the same as the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Soda Springs
What: A $993,000, one-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would pay for teacher and staff salaries and a school resource officer.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $61.39 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, a reduction of $7.33 from the expiring levy. The reduction is due to an increase in property values. The total cost of the proposed levy and the expiring levy is $993,000. See sample ballot here.
Snake River
What: A $1.4 million, two-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely cover staff salaries at $225,000, as well as curriculum and technology, safety, literacy interventions and all-day kindergarten and supplemental classes programs like music, FFA and athletics.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $67 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, the same as the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.
Wendell
What: A $1.2 million, two-year levy
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay for building maintenance at $355,000 per year. The rest would cover staff salaries and benefits and curriculum adoption.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $81.36 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. See sample ballot here.
Whitepine
What: A $880,000, one-year levy.
What’s at stake? The levy would largely pay staff salaries and benefits at $595,000. The rest of the funds would cover security and technology, maintenance and operations, transportation, supplies and curriculum, and extracurricular programs.
Impact? The levy would cost taxpayers $256.12 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value a $2.32 decrease from the expiring supplemental levy. See sample ballot here.If your school district’s ballot measure is missing from this list email emma@idahoednews.org.Ed News Data Analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this story.
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