Panel reviews $20 million bond plan
By Marcus Clem
The planned borrowing of money to pay for broad improvements to sports, fine arts and climate control work in St. Joseph schools received a community review on Thursday.
The Facilities Planning Committee gathered at the St. Joseph School District Administration Building in part to discuss what would be paid for by the bond, and what is needed to ensure most voters will approve it on April 2. The Board of Education will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Troester Media Center to commit to the roughly $20 million bond issue. The four board members present Thursday all indicated they are likely to vote in favor of putting it on the ballot. The committee itself is open to anyone who shows up.
“We’re looking at improving the turfs for athletics, and giving some money also to the fine arts departments, because there’s so many kids who are so talented and deserve the opportunity to enhance their acting skills or their singing skills in our fine arts,” board member Isaura Garcia said. “Our teachers need the support, and need to know that they have the resources to educate those kids in those departments.”
The $20 million can be used toward a tentative list of items available at newspressnow.com, but examples include $5.8 million for running track, field and related improvements at all three high schools, $2.4 million for soccer projects at Bode and Spring Garden middle schools, several gymnasium renovations, and roughly $4 million in purchases for the fine arts. The total costs listed exceed $20 million; spending of up to $25 million has been discussed.
The district could borrow up to $80 million without increasing the debt service levy, but it is choosing to try to preserve that capacity for future needs. As it stands, about $4.32 for every $100 in assessed property value is taxed each year to residents within the district. The lack of a need to increase the overall levy means voters will not see a bump in their annual tax bill if the bond issue is approved by voters on April 2, but the overall debt the district holds will take longer to pay off.
Should the bond issue fail at the ballot box, the district would have one final opportunity to try to run a bond issue on Aug. 6. If it should choose not to, or should that bond also fail to win voter approval, tax bills would decrease and the district would be left with a significantly reduced capacity to borrow money for projects in the future.
When a bond issue is approved, the district works with financial adviser L.J. Hart & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, to encourage banks and other investors to lend the district a specified amount of money, which the debt service levy is used to pay back over time. A bond issue differs from a tax levy, which is a permanent increase in property taxes to fund a recurring expense, like staff salaries. Bond issues must by law be used for one-off purchases, projects and upgrades, and never to fund compensation for district employees.
