UPDATE: Looks like they will be asking for $190 million dollar bond in a stand alone election in September. Never pass. Never. If they get 45% I would be shocked. The only saving grace of the night is that they will assess us over 10 years and incrementally raise taxes over that time period. They are going to sell this to us as a $3 a month increase ($185K valuation).
One of the best ideas of the night came from Public Works Director Mark Cotter (who I think knows passing the $190 million is going to be a challenge). He suggested a $126 million dollar bond and pay for the rest with capital outlay funds. He got poo-poo’d right away. They were quick to point out that they can’t trust Pierre and they may need that money for other stuff. In other words, get as much as we can and hey if the outlay money is still there, we’ll spend that to. A lot of greedy people run our school district.
The final meeting will be tonight at 5:30 PM at the IPC.
The group is expected to come up with a final price-tag and what exactly that will be paying for. They will also be discussing an election date. I think they are shooting for $150 million.
The Superintendent wants the election in September as a stand alone, which I think is a bad idea and will not get the 60% passage required, I think they would be better off having it in November.
I think they are assuming they will have a lower voter turnout which equates to a better chance of passing the bond issue. In other words they are going to appeal to people who they think will be willing to pass it. Sometimes this works, in this case I don’t think they will get passage for either date. I think they need to get the bond at or under $100 million. If they go with the $150 million price tag, that will equate to a $100 a year for every $100K valuation of home in property taxes.
While I know we need to build new schools, I think they should scrape some of the money from other sources and get the price tag down below $100 million. I also think they need a long range to 5 year plan in build all of the schools, spreading the expense out. I will vote against it if they can’t get it down to $100 million, and I have a feeling most people will to. I would be surprised if they even get 40% in favor of it.