Voters turn down $70.9 million Lakeland School District bond

August 29, 2019 3:42 AM

Erin Robinson,

Posted: August 29, 2019 3:42 AM

Updated: May 20, 2021 11:01 AM

by Erin Robinson

Voters turn down $70.9 million Lakeland School District bond — Pixabay

KOOTENAI CO., Idaho — Voters turned down a $70.9 million school bond proposed by the Lakeland School District on Tuesday.

The bond, which asked for $147 per year per $100,000 assessed property value, needed two-thirds of voters to be in favor, to pass.

The latest result update from Kootenai County was reported at 10:19 p.m. Tuesday with 73% of voters voting against the bond.

“We want to thank all who voted and participated in the election,” said Brian Wallace, Chief Financial Officer of the Lakeland School District, “Our future facility plans are undetermined, but our needs are still there and our district continues to grow. We will continue to engage the school board and community and try to develop a plan that will be supportive to the vast majority of our patrons.”

The bond proposed the money help pay for a new school for Lakeland and Mountain View high schools. If it had passed, Lakeland Junior High School would have become Lakeland Middle School and took on sixth graders. The money would have also gone toward six new classrooms and an auxiliary gym at Timberlake Junior High, and sixth grade would have moved to Timberlake to create additional classroom space at elementary schools.

Meantime, Kellogg School District voters voted 59 percent in favor of their proposed school bond. The vote would need two-thirds in favor votes to pass.

The district asked for $7.9 million over the next 12 years, which would go to renovations at four schools in the district. The money would also be used to help cover a debt form a 10-year bond passed in 2016. The cost of the 2006 bond is $161 per year per $100,000 assessed value, and would increase the average cost to $214 per year per $100,000 assessed value.