School tries bond election again
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District residents will have a second chance to vote on the school improvements bond during the election, Nov. 8.
Voters didn’t pass the bond at $5.2 million in the May 2016 election with 417 against and 235 in favor. Superintendent Jason Sargent talked to the public and made a change to the proposed bond with the support of the school board. That change includes the addition of classroom space, and it resulted in an increase to the bond amount.
“The public wanted more focus on classrooms and career opportunities,” he said.
The bond was restructured at $5.6 million for inflation and to include funding for a new family and consumer sciences room to address the public’s request. Many people also requested the addition of a career and technology center to prepare students for the future, he said.
Funding would also be used to build a multipurpose gym and weight room for community and student use and new locker rooms as the current ones are not up to code. School repairs are also budgeted into the bond.
“We have several safety concerns,” Sargent said.
The three biggest issues include a sewer line flooding into the weight room, roof damage, and a rodent problem.
“We want to modernize the facility to address those problems,” he said. The sewer pipe under the weight room is too small and it’s causing flooding. It needs to be replaced — now, he said, but Sargent is hoping to add the project into school wide improvement construction so he is holding off for now.
A few people have spoken out against the bond saying it would increase taxes by as much as 22 percent. Sargent said the numbers are available for people to see just how much their taxes would increase.
To figure out the proposed increase, a property owner would take the taxable value of the property, not the assessed value, and multiply that amount by 121.04 mills.
For example, a home with an assessed value of $25,000 has a taxable value of $338. Divide the mills by 1000 for a workable figure of 0.12104. Now, multiply the taxable value by the mill figure, which would be $338 multiplied by 0.12104. That amount would be taxed each year for 20 years.
Property with a taxable value of $25,000 would see an increased tax of $40; a $50,000 property would have an $81 tax increase; a $100,000 property, $163; $200,000 property, $326, and $300,000 property, $490.
Superintendent Sargent is hopeful the bond will pass this time. He said the next election is a walk-in presidential race.
“The last election was mail-in so we might have more people get out and vote,” he said.
The school hasn’t asked the taxpayers for an increase in 30 years, and the amount of state funding the school receives isn’t enough to keep up with school improvements, he said.
“If this doesn’t pass, we will just keep ‘nickel and diming’ like we have been,” he said. “We will also continue applying for grants but grant money isn’t as much as it used to be.”
The needed repairs are getting to the point where they can’t be put off. “The money we do have will need to be used for facilities, which will give us less money for students and staff,” he said.
The school is holding two meetings in the boardroom, which is in the middle school, for people to ask questions and share opinions on Oct. 26 and 27, at 6 p.m.
