Voters in the Festus R-6 School District will be asked to approve a measure to shift 35 cents from the district’s debt service levy to its operating levy. The measure, called “Proposition 1,” requires a simple majority for passage.
Festus’ overall tax levy is $3.74 per $100 of assessed valuation, the lowest in Jefferson County. Of that, 35 cents is collected for debt service and $3.39 for operating funds. The 35 cents goes to pay down the district’s bond debt, which is set to expire in early 2018. If Prop 1 passes, the debt service levy would drop to zero and the operating levy would increase to $3.74 on a permanent basis.
For the owner of a home valued by the Jefferson County Assessor’s Office at $100,000, the 35-cent levy amounts to $66.50 annually. Residential property taxes are paid at 19 percent of a home’s valuation.
District officials have developed a campuswide master plan – based on input from staff, students and patrons – that outlines a list of improvements to be made over the next few years.
The district hopes to use the money generated by this measure, about $850,000 to $900,000 annually, to begin the first phase of the master plan, including a band/choir room addition at the high school, a computer lab at the elementary school, technology improvements across the campus and additions/improvements to parking and security.
Remaining components of the plan include a new performing arts center, a new high school gym and upgrades to the athletic stadium.
Festus Superintendent Link Luttrell said the timeline for getting those big-ticket projects underway will depend on the wishes of district patrons.
“If there is interest from the board and patrons, we might decide, within the next two to three years, to accelerate the master plan concept,” he said. “We would need to put a ballot issue to voters for an increase in our tax levy.”
Although the decision to go that route has not been made, Luttrell said district officials and board members have begun crunching the numbers.
“We have looked at it close enough to know that it would take probably about 45 to 49 cents,” he said. “If we went to the ballot with that and were successful, we would still be the lowest overall school levy in the county by a pretty good margin.”
R-6 won voter approval by a 3-to-1 margin of a similar project in 2015. Proposition S shifted 64 cents from debt service to the operating levy, generating money for more classrooms and other improvements, completed in October 2016.
The district is publicizing the April 4 measure across a wide variety of platforms.
“We have been using informational fliers, making sure we tell patrons about our tax levy and what this would mean,” Luttrell said. “We have some radio ads, newspaper ads, signs up all over, that will highlight the benefits of Prop 1 passage.
“We also are using social media. There is a Festus School District Yes on Prop 1 page on Facebook that’s been getting a lot of hits, and we have a video that’s been shared through Twitter.”