EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of two articles addressing Lakeside School District's proposed millage increase. The district is seeking a 4-mill increase in the May 22 election.
Beth Reed
The Sentinel-Record
Lakeside School District held an informational meeting Tuesday inviting the community to learn more and ask questions about a proposed 4-mill increase the district is seeking on May 22.
The 15th in a series of meetings providing information on the district's proposed millage increase, the meeting was held for community members Superintendent Shawn Cook said may not be involved directly with the district.
A very low turnout of community members attended the meeting, but Cook made the full presentation of the informational packet, accessible to voters on the school's website, and explained the district's intent to keep the increase low.
"When we went into this millage we said we didn't want to raise this more than 4 mills," he said. "This bond issue actually wraps around two other bonds that we have which structures them and people have asked how long does this bond issue last. It's a 31-year deal, but what that boils down to when you package this together is we're extending our debt out 12 more years than we currently have it."
Cook told The Sentinel-Record via email Thursday the purpose of restructuring the two bonds is to minimize the number of new mills needed to fund these projects so the district will only need 4 new mills instead of 5.5 mills.
"This was determined by the District's municipal adviser and their analysis of annual cash flows for debt service," he said.
The debt will roll off the books in 2048 and the two new bond issues will be restructured with the new bonds "so they won't be broken out separately anymore," he said.
"The final maturity of the new bond issue will be 2048. Our current debt expires in 2036," Cook said.
If the proposed millage increase passes, the district's bonded debt cannot extend past 2048 without a future vote of the people, he added.
If the proposed millage increase is not passed, Cook said Wednesday the district "could go for 1 mill in a calendar year," but they would have to start addressing the needs for space as the district continues growing.
"If it doesn't pass, we would immediately start looking at areas we can cut back in and save money back to build classrooms where we can," Cook said. "That would mean cutting in areas like technology ... it would affect all areas of our budget, really. The goal I keep saying is to keep kids out of portable buildings and I really believe that we can do that if we get this passed."
Cook said the district believes in "taking care of our facilities and going after funding opportunities when they are presented."
In 2010, the district received a federal grant from FEMA for $3,103,232 that enabled it to build five safe rooms on campus to "give our kids, employees, and community a safe, secure place to go during a tornado." The grant covered 75 percent of the cost, with the district making a 25 percent match for the project, he said, noting the grant helped the district save approximately $1,700,000 in interest.
Also in 2010, the district applied for and secured Qualified School Construction Bonds, which enabled it to save $9,307,111.81 in projected interest.
"The bonds were low to no interest, compared to normal bonds," he said. "These bonds were available for a short period of time. This opportunity saved our school district a significant amount of money."
Cook said the district received $1,148,488 in stimulus funds in 2009 from the federal government to convert the old band room in the high school into a technology center. The district also used stimulus money to remodel its family and consumer science rooms and kitchens. This money was given to the district through an application process, he said.
Since 2010, Cook said the district has saved $2,397,947.43 by refinancing when it was beneficial.
"To date, we have remodeled almost every building in the school district with the exception of the Middle School," Cook said. "The Middle School is our newest stand-alone school. The 1937 historic building was one of the first buildings we remodeled. We take advantage of the spaces we have available districtwide and believe in taking care of our buildings, keeping them in optimum operating condition.
"We believe it is important to our people to see us taking care of the school they attended. We maximize the use of our buildings and we seek outside funding when it is available to help relieve the cost to the school district and our patrons. We appreciate the sacrifices that our community members make for our kids."
Cook said he is proud to work for a school and live in an area "where the people really do value education and take care of our kids."
"I believe if a community supports their school, and the school produces, then their property values will only increase and hopefully they will see a great investment," he said. "I challenge everyone to vote. I live and pay taxes in this community and I really believe this is a great package to address the most pressing needs of our district. "
Local on 04/22/2018