Dear readers, I promised I would revisit CCISD this week, so
I am.
That, and the videos are not available of this week's Copperas Cove city
council workshops. Which, from what I read and have heard in the buzz, were
quite interesting and humorous and entertaining, depending on how you look at
it.
If you have paid attention, you will see that there is a “tax
ratification election” for CCISD scheduled for September 8.
So what is the deal with this? What are Copperas Cove voters
being asked to do?
Superintendent Dr. Joe Burns has called it a “tax switch” so
the district will be able to use $4.1 million in its operating fund instead of
using it for paying off debt. How can they do this?
Simple!
Get Copperas Cove voters to approve a higher maintenance and
operations tax rate.
Here’s the Cliff’s notes version on school property tax:
There are 2 parts of the school property tax. One is for
maintenance and operations (M&O), one is for interest an sinking (I&O),
or debt payments.
Right now, the district’S TOTAL tax rate is $1.22 per $100
valuation.
$1.04 of that is for M&O. The district pays teachers and
does its operations through this fund.
$0.18 of that is for I&S. The district uses this to pay
its debt obligation.
What will this “tax switch” do, if it is approved?
Well, voters are being asked to say “Yes” or “No” to the
following tax rates:
$1.17 for M&O and $0.18 for I&S.
Okay, take deep breath.
Yes, that adds up to a tax rate of $1.35.
Here’s the “catch” or “covenant” as the legal people call
it, with the voters.
CCISD is saying; “Ok,
y’all, if you approve this $1.17 for M&O, we promise we will lower the I&S rate to $0.05. And you’ll still
pay the same tax rate, except CCISD will get more $$ for teachers, etc.”
In fact, there is a legal resolution that the board approved
that they MUST follow through on, if voters approve this.
Here it is:
CCISD has even posted a webpage where you can read more
(with a spin of “this is a no-brainer, y’all” approach):
But here’s MY concerns. Which you may, or may not, share.
What’s the proposed CCISD budget for next year?
Why the urgency for this revenue? Of course, the district could
always use more money.
But what else is happening besides the reduction of Impact
Aid? This is nothing new.
Yet, voters are being asked to approve this without having
seen any budget. Yet.
OH, the Admin will present TWO budgets. One budget if voters approve the new tax rates of $1.17 M&O, and one of voters don't and the M&O rate stays the same. Evidently, voters will see the “consequences”
of not voting in favor of this measure.
So, if we voters decide to give CCISD admin their way, what
happens when it comes time to build a new school? Which, you know is coming up
at some point down the road.
What is going to prevent CCISD admin from NOT using its fund
balance like last time? When House Creek Elementary was constructed, no loans
were taken out. See this following link:
If you read the above link, you will see that CCISD paid *cash*
for House Creek Elementary:
“The
95,000-square-foot building was approved in 2009 and the district is paying for
the $16.3 million building without taking out a loan for the construction. It
used $8.6 million from its Facility Fund balance and $7.8 million from its
General Fund balance.”
To give credit where it is due, this is both noteworthy and
admirable for a school district to be able to pay cash for brand-new
construction of this size.
What is the CCISD fund balance now? Is there enough to fund
another school? One would hope so.
You can see the current budget here:
According to the budget, the district STARTED last school
year with a fund balance of $64,843,255.
That’s $64 million, squirreled away. Think about that
figure, for a moment. Let it sink in.
Estimated ENDING fund balance is: $64,843,225.
The entire budget for the school year was just over $71 million. So, we're talking almost a whole YEAR'S worth of funds saved up!
The entire budget for the school year was just over $71 million. So, we're talking almost a whole YEAR'S worth of funds saved up!
(And: Why not use fund balance to make up this $4.1 million?
It’s a rainy day fund, and it seems to be “sprinkling” if you know what I
mean.)
But, can and/or will this use of fund balance for
construction happen again with another CCISD facility built from the ground up?
Well, so far, the latest two construction projects haven’t
been bond/loan projects.
But, how do we know what the future holds for CCISD facilities?
We know the high school is crowded. If you’ve ever walked
the halls during class change time, you’ll know.
We know they are planning a renovation at Fairview/Jewell to
open up that campus and expand the cafeteria and start using the Fairview side
of the campus.
We know there is a great deal of growth taking place to the
north side of Copperas Cove.
Curmudgeon feels there is more to this tale than is being
told, at this time.
It bears watching to see the proposed budgets and hear the
explanations offered for them.
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