Nearly every county in Idaho held a consolidated election on Tuesday. More than two dozen Idaho school districts asked voters to approve funding, either through levies or bonds. In total, they added up to nearly a quarter of a billion dollars, with a handful passing across the state.
Here’s a breakdown of the top races.
Bonds and Levies
The Middleton School District asked voters to approve a $19.9 million bond to build a new elementary school to deal with overcrowding. The 20 year bond failed to get a supermajority.
The Filer School District, located outside of Twin Falls, asked voters for $52 million to build a middle school, sports complex and a new technical education building.
The twenty year bond failed to get a supermajority.
In the Vallivue District, a $14 million two year levy to fund school staff, programs, transportation, technology and resources passed with 62% of the vote.
Voters in Buhl passed a $650,000 levy to help with teacher pay and bus routes.
Over in Fruitland, voters were asked about a $1.8 million levy to fund a new math curriculum, security enhancements, renovations to the high school gym, and air conditioning at both the middle and high school. It passed with 56.23% of the vote.
In the Parma School District, a $1.3 million two year levy for teacher and staff salaries, buses, and HVAC repairs also passed.
Libraries
Library districts in the Treasure Valley also had elections for trustee positions.
The Ada County Community Library District has four branches serving southwest Boise, Hidden Springs and Star. Suzette Moore, an interim trustee, won her seat with 23.49% of the vote. Rachel Moorhouse won the other open seat, with 25.87% support.
The Ada County GOP Central Committee website lists Moorhouse and Moore as Republicans, according to BoiseDev. The library trustee seats are non-partisan.
In the Meridian Library District’s hotly contested race Garrett Castle and incumbent Jeff Kohler, won with 39.39% and 40.64% of the vote respectively. They beat candidates Mike Hon and Phil Reynolds, who co-founded a group behind an attempt to dissolve the Meridian Library District.
Fire Districts
In the communities of Star and Middleton, the combined fire districts asked voters to approve a $2.25 million levy to help. pay for salaries and build a new fire station. The proposal fell short of passing for the third time
Greater Boise Auditorium District
The Greater Boise Auditorium District, a rare governmental entity that can collect a hotel tax to build and manage venues like auditoriums, arenas and sports facilities, had two seats open. Sophie Sestero and Jim Walker won their seats with 36.67% and 40.09% of the vote respectively.
McCall Local Option Tax
Voters in McCall were asked to consider a change to the resort community’s local option tax, specifically the LOT on short-term lodging. The measure to hike the tax from three percent to four percent was approved with 78% of the vote.
You can view all the election results on the VoteIdaho website.
