Local school levies fail

Voters in School District 6 turned down both school levy elections on Tuesday, June 4. Rural voters were opposed, and city voters were in favor of the mill requests.

The 3.01 mill elementary levy was defeated by 745-726. It would have raised $89,555. The 2.8 mill high school levy was defeated by 792-754. It would have raised $96,434. The combined impact on a house with a market value of $200,000 would have been $16.08.

Both levies would have been permanent if the school district levied the amount at least once in the next five years. Voter turnout was slightly down from the 2012 levy election, which also included a school board trustees election.

Last year, voters approved a 3.9 mill elementary levy and a 2.5 mill high school levy. The combined impact of those two permanent levies on a house with a market value of $200,000 was $16.76.

School District 6 superintendent Mike Nicosia attributed the election results on the difficulty voters face in understanding complex school funding issues.

He noted that the Kalispell school district chose not to run a levy this year, but that was because a school-funding bill passed by the Montana Legislature this year greatly benefited large school districts. Local voters might hear about school levies in other areas and come to the wrong conclusion about the Columbia Falls school district, he said.

He also said voter turnout might have dropped because the school board decided to run the levy election in June rather than May. That decision was made because the board wanted to wait until the legislature finalized its school-funding bill before setting the mill request.