Idaho’s School Facilities Fund — created by HB 292 — sends state money directly to the Moscow School District to pay down any existing bonds and levies, reducing what Moscow property owners pay on their actual tax bills.
The Idaho Legislature created the School Facilities Fund through HB 292. Every year, the State of Idaho sends money to Moscow School District based on student enrollment. That money must be used to pay down existing school bonds and levies — which directly reduces what MSD281 needs to collect from property owners. The result shows up on your actual property tax bill as a lower school levy line item. You pay less. The state makes up the difference.
The School Facilities Fund is not funded by property taxes. It is funded by:
Idaho’s Department of Tax and Revenue collects sales tax, online sales tax, and lottery proceeds throughout the fiscal year. A defined percentage of these collections flows directly into the School Districts Facilities Fund in the state treasury.
Funds are distributed on a per-pupil basis using average daily attendance, meaning larger districts receive larger shares. Moscow School District receives its allocation based on MSD281’s ADA count relative to all Idaho school districts. MSD281 received $1,103,636 in 2025 and $1.91 million for 2026–27. Applied at that level across the seven-year levy term, the School Facilities Fund would offset roughly $13 million — directly reducing what property owners pay. These funds are continuous but remain subject to authorization and appropriation by the Idaho Legislature each session.
HB 292 required districts to apply the school district facilities funds in the following ways, in order of priority: pay off existing bonds; pay off existing levies; save for future facility construction; secure and pay for a new facilities bond. For MSD281, this means the annual SFF allocation first reduces the existing bond obligation, then offsets any active levy. The effect is a direct reduction in what the district needs to collect from property owners.
Because the state is covering a portion of MSD281’s bond and levy obligations, the district doesn’t need to collect as much from property owners. The effective levy rate applied to your property goes down. This reduction appears automatically on your November property tax statement — you don’t need to apply for anything.
HB 292 created two separate forms of property tax relief. Both can apply to a Moscow homeowner simultaneously.
The ballot measure voters approve in November 2026 is for the authorized gross levy amount of approximately $9.37 million per year. That is the legal requirement — Idaho statute requires the ballot to show the gross amount without netting out any state offsets.
But what property owners actually pay is lower, because the School Facilities Fund sends state money to MSD281 each year that is applied against the levy obligation before bills go out. The effective taxpayer cost is:
The district will confirm the exact annual SFF allocation and its impact on the effective levy rate prior to the November election. The figures will be incorporated into all voter information materials once Piper Sandler’s analysis is complete.
Yes — the SFF reduces the school district’s levy obligation for all property owners in the district, not just homeowners with the homestead exemption. Businesses, rental properties, farms, and owner-occupied homes all benefit because the district collects less from the entire tax base.
Nothing. The SFF distribution goes directly from the Idaho Department of Education to Moscow School District, which applies it against the bond and levy obligation before tax bills are calculated. Your bill is lower as a result. The separate Homeowner Tax Relief credit also applies automatically to homestead-exempt properties.
HB 304 (2025) made both the School Facilities Fund and the Homeowner Property Tax Relief permanent at $100 million per year combined. Barring future legislative action, the SFF is a permanent ongoing program that will continue offsetting MSD281’s levy obligations throughout the 2027–2033 Phase 1 levy term.
Idaho law requires ballot language to show the authorized gross levy amount. The SFF offset is a state program that operates separately from the local levy authorization. The ballot figure ($9.37M/yr) is what the district is authorized to collect — the state then reduces what property owners actually owe. The two systems work together; the ballot captures only the local authorization portion.
If the district has no active bonds or levies, the SFF money can be saved for future facility construction, or used for new bonds. MSD281 currently has an existing bond (retiring 2033) and will have an active Plant Facility Levy from 2027–2033 if the measure passes. During that entire period, the SFF allocation will be applied to reduce taxpayer costs.
The following information is required by Section 34-914, Idaho Code:
The estimated average annual cost to the taxpayer on the proposed levy is a tax of $280 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, per year, based on current conditions.
The proposed levy would be assessed for 7 years.