The results are in for a number of ballot measures in Central Idaho.
Valley County will see money go toward water treatment and schools. But plans for an expanded version of a teacher housing project and increased emergency medical services funds will remain on the shelf for now.
The City of McCall’s $16 million water revenue bond far exceeded the needed supermajority of votes to pass. The bond question garnered a 79.88% “in favor” vote. The bond will pay for two more water filters and a two-million-gallon storage tank at the city’s water treatment plant. McCall city officials had said the current treatment plant was running “on borrowed time.”
McCall’s Communication Manager Erin Greaves previously said that voters were not deciding on whether the project would get done, but rather how it would be paid for. Had the bond not passed, Greaves said the city’s water customers could have seen over 100% increase in their water bills over three years. The passage of the bond will allow for payment on the project to be spread out over 20 years instead.
The Valley County EMS special tax levy narrowly failed, picking up 63.75% of votes in favor. It needed 66.7% to pass. The levy previously failed in the November 2023 election. The levy would have increased the district levy rate to grow the district and pay for EMS services. It also would have provided funds for hiring staff and potentially to go toward housing for employees.
The McCall-Donnelly School District’s supplemental levy passed with 61.3% of voters casting ballots in favor of the measure. According to the school district’s website, the $650,000 supplemental levy will address a $2.7 million funding shortage. Due to inflation, the levy passed in 2007 only covers just over half of what it used to. The levy will fund transportation costs, underwrite part of the gap in salary and benefits, and supplement food service costs, per the district.
The district’s $14 million bond, however, was not as favorable in the eyes of the voters. This bond would have been used to expand a teacher and staff housing project from eight homes to 35. Due to the high cost of living within the district boundaries, MDSD has had trouble recruiting new teachers to come to work for it. As older staff have started to retire, they’ve had to bring in paraprofessionals. McCall-Donnelly Superintendent Eric Pingrey previously told BoiseDev the district currently has an elementary teacher on alternative certification teaching high school physics.
