STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Blaine County Recreation District is moving forward to put a permanent levy override of $3 million for recreation on the Nov. 4 election ballot.

The BCRD’s board unanimously approved the ballot language on Wednesday.

“This is all about what we see as the demand from our community—how to make our community better,” said BCRD Director Mark Davidson. “We touch so many parts of our community, whether you live in an apartment in Balmoral and Woodside or a $20 million house in Sun Valley. We serve a broad spectrum of our community, and we have something important to offer to our community.”

The levy needs two-thirds of the vote. If the levy passes, the BCRD could pursue levy-funded projects in six categories:

TRAILS

The BCRD would like to expand winter and summer trails, put new flooring on the railroad bridge north of the hospital so that it doesn’t give bicyclists an Excedrin headache every time they cross, install restrooms along the Wood River Trail and improve parking areas for trails, including the parking at East Fork Road, Quigley Trails, North Valley Trails and Galena Trails.

The BCRD would like to build a six-mile trail out Croy Canyon to Bullion Gulch to get bicyclists off the busy 45-mph Croy Creek Canyon Road, Davidson said. It would also like to build a separated bike path along the right-of-way from its current bike path in Bellevue to Gannett.

“We know there are a lot of people that ride bikes along that road,” Davidson said. “We also want to make sure we have safe infrastructure on existing pathways. We want to upgrade sides near bridges to make them safer, make better parking lots at such access points as North Buttercup Road and make sure there’s infrastructure for things like drinking fountains.”

The BCRD would also like to provide pedestrian/bicycle tie-ins from the west side of Highway 75 to the Wood River Trail between East Fork and Hailey, similar to the tunnels it already has in Golden Eagle and at Elkhorn.

SPORTS FIELDS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The BCRD envisions building new multi-use courts, fields and facililties and upgrading existing ones.

It wants to work with the school district to develop 11 acres the school district owns at the mouth of Quigley Canyon into soccer and lacrosse fields that could double for multi-use community events. It’s eyeing a baseball complex at Flying Hat Ranch. It’s working with pickleball enthusiasts to expand pickleball opportunities—say, on two tennis courts the City of Hailey owns.

“We also want to add basketball courts and take a look at a sports court facility in Carey that has been neglected,” said Davidson.

A talked-about indoor sports facility in the south valley has been put on the backburner for now. That project needs more community imput, Davidson said.

GALENA LODGE

The BCRD wants to improve staff housing at Galena and provide needed maintenance, including roof repair and some interior work, to the historic Galena Lodge 24 miles north of Ketchum. The BCRD also want to upgrade Nordic grooming equipment.

QUIGLEY TRAILS PARK

The BCRD want to landscape the property to provide shade in summer. And it wants to provide a building that the BCRD and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation can run programs out of year round.

AQUATIC POOL

There’s been talk of enclosing the pool so it could be operated year round. But there are a lot of constraints, Davidson said--The BCRD needs additional funding provided by the levy to even explore the options.

LONG-TERM OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

Right now, the BCRD has 18 to 19 fulltime staff, as well as four to six groomers during winter, 10 to 12 counselors to help with the HUB afterschool facility, dozens of coaches and volunteers to run the youth sports program and 30 to 40 kids to work as lifeguards.

The levy would help the BCRD provide better and faster maintenance on the Wood River Trail and existing fields.

“If we build more facilities, it’ll take more to maintain them,” Davidson said. “We have a mechanic that works in a shop that we lease. We don’t have a place to store grooming equipment. We have equipment stored all over the valley so we’re trying to solidify that part of our operation.”

The amount of the levy being sought remains unchanged from earlier this year when BCRD first considered putting the levy on the 2025 May ballot. If approved, property taxes would increase by $13.34 per year per $100,000 of assessed value. It currently levies a tax of $7.81 per $100,000 taxable assessed value annually so that means homeowners would pay $21.15 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value.

Based on the median home price, that means the average homeowner would pay about $97 more than what they pay now each year.

The BCRD will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2026. Since it was founded in 1976, it has built world-class trails, recreation programs and spaces for connection and wellness, said Davidson.

“In that time our population has tripled, but BCRD’s funding model has not changed. We are reaching a critical juncture where additional resources are needed to not only maintain the recreational infrastructure we have but prepare to make enhancements in the future,” he said.

BCRD facilities and trails now support more than 600,000 user days a year. The district maintains the 22-mile Wood River Trail, historic Galena Lodge, summer and winter trails in the North Valley and Quigley Trails Park, outdoor aquatics center and recreational programming.

If the levy passes, the BCRD has a number of projects it has already started planning that it can jump on right away, including projects along the Wood River Trails, at Quigley and Galena Lodge, Davidson said. The BCRD hopes to get community imput for prioritizing projects through some sort of advisory or planning committee.

“This levy is essential to securing the future of recreation in the Wood River Valley. We have heard from the community through meetings, surveys, and conversations,” said Mat Hall, BCRD board president. “We know residents value the trails, fields, recreation spaces, and programming that BCRD provides. Additional funding will allow us to meet current and future needs of the community.”

To learn more, visit www.bcrd.org/levy.

BLAINE COUNTY RECREATION DISTRICT RESOLUTION NO. 25-1

A RESOLUTION CALLING A PERMANENT LEVY OVERRIDE ELECTION TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 4, 2025; ESTABLISHING THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR VOTERS AND THE HOURS WHEN POLLS WILL BE OPEN; APPROVING THE FORM OF BALLOT; CALLING FOR THE PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTION OF BALLOTS AND FOR THE PUBLICATION OF A NOTICE OF ELECTION; AND CALLING FOR A SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING AFTER THE ELECTION TO CANVASS THE RESULTS.

WHEREAS, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of the Blaine County Recreation District, Blaine County, Idaho (the “District”) finds the District’s current funding model and levels are insufficient to keep pace with rapid increases in recreational demand and operational costs of the District, and, therefore, insufficient to provide adequate recreation facilities to the District’s residents, and the public generally, pursuant to Idaho Code § 31-4316;  

WHEREAS, the Board, therefore, finds that additional investment must be made to sustain and expand critical and essential recreational resources through the acquisition, construction, and improvement of public recreation facilities for the benefit of the residents of the District, and the public generally; and

WHEREAS, the Board concludes it is necessary to levy a tax override to increase its property tax budget beyond the current amount, to fund said capital recreation improvements, operations, and maintenance, and seek electoral authorization of the increase pursuant to and authorized by Idaho Code § 63-802(1)(h).

NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Resolved by the Board, as follows:

    SECTION 1.    That a permanent levy override election (the “Permanent Levy Override Election”) be held, and is called to be held, in Blaine County, Idaho, on Tuesday November 4, 2025, for the purpose of submitting to the qualified electors of the District the question set out in the form of the ballot appearing in Section 3 below.

    SECTION 2.  The Permanent Levy Override Election shall be conducted by Blaine County, Idaho, and the County Clerk of such county (the “County Clerk”), all in accordance with Title 34, Idaho Code. The Executive Director of the District (the “Executive Director”) shall confirm with the County Clerk that a sample ballot has been printed before the Permanent Levy Override Election, which sample ballot shall be in or contain the same form as the official ballot proposition set forth in Section 3 hereof. The Executive Director shall also confirm with the County Clerk that the form of sample ballot for the Permanent Levy Override Election will be published in the official newspaper of Blaine County, Idaho, and as may be necessary in the Idaho Mountain Express, an official newspaper of the District, in accordance with Idaho Code §§ 34-602 and 34-1406.  

INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTERS:  To vote in favor of the Permanent Levy Override, place an “X” in the square at the left of the words “YES.” To vote against the Permanent Levy Override, place an “X” in the square at the left of the word “NO.” If you change your mind, tear, or make a mistake on this ballot, you may request a new ballot from an election worker.

QUESTION: Shall Blaine County Recreation District (the “District”) be authorized and empowered, pursuant to Idaho Code § 63-802(1)(h), to levy a permanent tax override of Three Million Dollars ($3,000,000), commencing tax year 2026, and each succeeding year thereafter, which amount will be added to the District’s annual base budget for the purposes of providing adequate recreation facilities and services within the District?

The purpose of the increased tax levy will be to meet current and future demand for recreational facilities and services provided by the District throughout Blaine County, Idaho, including but not limited to:

(i) Trails: improvements for summer and winter trails including the Wood River Trail, Quigley Trails, North Valley Trails, and Galena Trails to connect communities, repair and maintain bridges, install restrooms, improve parking areas, upgrade grooming equipment and enhance multi-use spaces; (ii) Galena Lodge: upgrade lodge and supporting infrastructure; (iii) Quigley Trails Park: enhance and construct infrastructure supporting multi-use community recreational spaces; (iv) aquatic facilities: expansion of Aquatic Center operations and infrastructure; (v) sports fields and infrastructure: construction of new and improvements to existing multi-use courts, fields, and facilities to accommodate various sports and community events throughout the year; (vi) long-term operations and maintenance: staffing, equipping, and maintaining existing and future District amenities.

The District currently levies a tax of $7.81 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value annually. If approved, the Permanent Levy Override is expected to increase the annual tax levy by $13.34 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value per year, resulting in a total expected annual tax levy of $21.15 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. The proposed levy increase will be permanent and become part of the District’s new annually established base budget developed pursuant to Idaho Code § 63-802(1)(a)(i).

    SECTION 4. That notice of the Permanent Levy Override Election shall be given by the  County Clerk for publication in The Idaho Mountain Express, the official newspaper of the District, as provided in Idaho Code §§ 34-602, and 34-1406, as amended, at least twice, with the first publication occurring not less than twelve (12) days prior to the election and a second or final publication occurring not less than five (5) days prior to the election. Said notice shall be in substantially the following form:

QUESTION:  Shall the Blaine County Recreation District (the “District”) be authorized and empowered, pursuant to Idaho Code § 63-802(1)(h), to levy a permanent tax override of Three Million Dollars ($3,000,000), commencing tax year 2026, and each succeeding year thereafter, which amount will be added to the District’s annual base budget for the purposes of providing adequate recreation facilities and services within the District?

The purpose of the increased tax levy will be to meet current and future demand for recreational facilities and services provided by the District throughout Blaine County, Idaho, including but not limited to:

(i) Trails: improvements for summer and winter trails including the Wood River Trail, Quigley Trails, North Valley Trails, and Galena Trails to connect communities, repair and maintain bridges, install restrooms, improve parking areas, upgrade grooming equipment and enhance multi-use spaces; (ii) Galena Lodge: upgrade lodge and supporting infrastructure; (iii) Quigley Trails Park: enhance and construct infrastructure supporting multi-use community recreational spaces; (iv) aquatic facilities: expansion of Aquatic Center operations and aquatic infrastructure; (v) sports fields and infrastructure: construction of new and improvements to existing multi-use courts, fields, and facilities to accommodate various sports and community events throughout the year; (vi) long-term operations and maintenance: staffing, equipping, and maintaining existing and future District amenities.

The District currently levies a tax of $7.81 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value annually. If approved, the Permanent Levy Override is expected to increase the annual tax levy by $13.34 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value per year, resulting in a total expected annual tax levy of $21.15 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. The proposed levy increase will be permanent and become part of the District’s new annually established base budget developed pursuant to Idaho Code § 63-802(1)(a)(i).

SECTION 8.    If at the Permanent Levy Override Election two-thirds (2/3) of the qualified registered electors of the District voting at such election assent to the permanent tax levy override, the levy increase will be permanent and become part of the District’s new annually established base budget developed pursuant to Idaho Code § 63-802(1)(a)(i).