Hillsboro R-3 School District voters once again will be asked to approve a $25 million bond issue.
The Board of Education voted 4-1 during a May 12 special meeting to place the bond issue on the Aug. 2 ballot.
Jon Schuessler cast the lone vote against placing the measure on the ballot. Board members Angie Oshia and Rob Kruse did not attend the meeting.
The bond issue will require a four-sevenths majority, or 57.14 percent of the vote, to pass. If approved, revenue from the bond issue, called “Proposition KIDS,” will be used to make a variety of repairs and improvements to schools around the district.
The proposition would not require a tax increase; however, the district’s bond debt would be extended by no more than eight years, from 2037 to approximately 2045, Superintendent Jon Isaacson said.
The district’s current tax levy is $4.5679 per $100 of assessed valuation, and the debt service portion of the levy is $1.1933 per $100 of assessed valuation, Isaacson said.
In April, Hillsboro R-3 voters turned down a $25 million bond issue by a margin of 1,407 yes votes (46.48 percent) to 1,620 no votes (53.52 percent).
Those voters also were asked in April to approve a measure that would have allowed the school district to shift 40 cents from the bond debt levy to its general operating levy. That question failed by a margin of 1,059 yes votes (35.10 percent) to 1,958 no votes (64.90 percent).
The district is not asking for a tax shift in August. Isaacson said district officials will face serious decisions if the bond issue fails again.
“If it does not pass, basically, there is not going to be the means for keeping up with fixing some problems and making improvements, such as fixing roofs, replacing HVAC, installing security items,” Isaacson said. “In addition, we would not be able to make improvements, such as install a turn lane on Leon Hall Parkway (at its intersection with Business 21) and make a secure entrance at (Hillsboro High School) and make other improvements at the high school. In fact, the high school has not been touched since it was constructed in the early 2000s.”
Isaacson said the district will survey R-3 residents to get feedback to help officials decide what improvements “to prioritize items and we will target those priorities.”
Schuessler, who previously served on the board and after an absence was elected to a seat in April, said he opposes bond issues like the one on the August ballot because school districts often market them as “no tax-increase bond issues.”
He said he does not feel it is right to refer to the measures that way because it suggests the bond issues would not affect taxes, even though taxes would decrease sooner if bond debt were not extended.
“I don’t support bond issues. It’s absolutely participating in a messed-up system,” he said.
Board member Beth Petry, on the other hand, said she feels R-3 officials attempt to present all pertinent information to voters, although she said they need to do a better job educating the public about the district’s needs.
“I do feel strongly the information wasn’t understood on the needs of the district with the bond issue (during the April election),” Petry said. “People need to decide with the proper information.”