Committee hears explanation of bond-levy-equalization closeout and new statewide bonding for schools

During a budget reconciliation discussion, committee members asked how the closure of the bond levy equalization program affects school bonding. Keith Bybee and legislators clarified that House Bill 521 (H.B. 521) eliminated the prior bond levy equalization program and established a new state bonding structure to finance school facilities.

Bybee told the committee that an existing fund balance of about $62,800,000 in the bond levy equalization account will be transferred back to the general fund because the older program was deleted from Idaho code under H.B. 521. A member asked whether returning that amount would affect the state's capacity to support the roughly $1 billion in school bonds; Bybee explained the programs are different: the old bond-levy-equalization provided local offsets while the new structure consolidates bonding at the state level and distributes funds based on attendance (ADA), as described in the presentation.

Why it matters: the change shifts how state support for school facility bonding is organized and affects cash flows in the near term because funds that once sat in the bond-levy-equalization account are being moved to the general fund as the old program was closed out.

Committee follow up: Bybee and the chair said they would follow up with written detail about the timing and mechanics of transfers and how the new program interacts with debt service requirements on outstanding or newly issued bonds.

Ending: Committee members pressed for additional documentation on the amounts and timing; Bybee said he would provide follow-up information to the committee.