What they are: Proposition B.E.A.M. is $1.5 million bond issue and Proposition K.I.D.S. is a 50-cent tax levy shift.
Vote needed to pass: Four-sevenths (57.14 percent) majority for bond issue; simple majority for tax shift.
What they’re about: Revenue from the two measures would fund facility improvements and salary increases for district employees.
The bond issue is called Proposition B.E.A.M. (Buildings, Education And Minds), and the other measure, called Proposition K.I.D.S., would shift 50 cents from the district’s debt service tax levy to its operating fund levy.
Neither ballot measure requires a tax increase, so if both the bond issue and tax levy shift were approved, the district’s total tax levy rate would remain at its current $4.6262 per $100 assessed valuation, Superintendent Armand Spurgin said.
He said the bond issue would not extend the district’s bond debt either.
“Right now, with our junior high, we are paying that off for the next seven years. With this (Proposition B.E.A.M.), we would pay it off in four years. So, there’s no extension at all. This is not like refinancing a loan. This is paid off in four years, so no debt extension.”
Spurgin said revenue from the bond issue would be used to improve district’s facilities.
“With the bond issue, we’re looking to repair our roofs,” Spurgin said. “We’re having problems with an aging HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system that needs a lot of repair. We’re also going to redo some windows.”
He said if any money remains after completing those projects, the district will use it for other facility maintenance or improvement efforts.
Spurgin said the tax shift would drop the debt service levy to $1.1222 per $100 assessed valuation and increase the operating levy to $3.504 per assessed valuation.
District officials hope to use the estimated $200,000 the shift would add to its operating fund to attract and retain qualified certified and support staff; to maintain facilities; and meet additional operating expenses, according to the proposition’s wording.
“The benefit would be for staff salaries in order to maintain staff,” Spurgin said. “With inflation, we need to keep up salaries.
“The majority of it really is to help stabilize our budget and have increases across the board.”