SRS Funds
Secure Rural Schools funds come annually from the state and are paid to the county and then to the schools. The district has been receiving these funds for many years. The amount the district receives is based on Average Daily Attendance of the students in the district. Depending on the year, the district receives approx. $950 per attended student from SRS funds. These funds are included in Projected Budget Revenue every year. They are deposited into the Federal Forest Reserve fund and are transferred from that fund to the general fund as needed.
HB 292 and HB 521
In 2023 the Idaho House passed HB292 to give schools money towards their facilities. MVSD received $407,057 and it was deposited into a separate fund earning interest. As of today, the value is $420,132.76. These funds are only allowed to be used on certain expenses, so the school board decided to use $400,000 toward mandatory building expenses for the 24-25 school year, therefore reducing the levy cost to local taxpayers. See the arrow below reflecting that $200,000 reduction below.
In 2024, our legislators passed HB 521 continuing the facilities funds for ten years. This fund is the School Modernization Facilities Fund and it will provide approximately $4.466 million dollars to the district for the next 10 years. This can be taken as a lump sum or approximately $446,000 a year over the next ten years. The school board has yet to decide on whether to take the lump sum or annual distributions. As the wording implies, this bill is intended primarily for the upkeep of school facilities. However, if the funding is received on an annual basis, the money can be used to pay down existing bonds or levies. There are multiple decisions that have yet to be made to make this a possibility, and $446,000 is far from the total of $2.9 million needed to keep the district operating as it is but we want to be as forthcoming with this new information as possible. This has been in the news and the school district has acknowledged the bill openly.
See this article for more clarification https://idahofiscal.org/understanding-the-school-facilities-and-tax-relief-bill-of-2024/
View our page detailing the School Facilities Fund, HB 521 & HB 292 Funds here:
https://www.sd244.org/page/sff-hb292