Bond election: No new taxes
By STU MERRY
Addressing space and safety – all without increasing taxes. That's what Garrison school officials are touting as they propose additions at Bob Callies Elementary School and Garrison High School.
A bond election is less than two weeks away – Tuesday, Oct. 8. Patrons will be asked to approve a $5 million plan for additions to buildings at both campuses.
The school's Building and Grounds Committee, along with other school officials, blanketed the community this past week, putting out containers that contained fact sheets and brochures explaining what is proposed. The information will also be available to parents at Thursday's (today's) parent-teacher conferences that will be for grades K-12. The conferences will be at the elementary school.
Informational meetings and community presentations are planned over the next couple weeks.
Bottom line
School officials say that with an increase in state funding and a decrease in mills, the amount a patron pays in taxes to the school should decrease enough to offset the increase in taxes caused by the 25 mills (or less) needed to fund the bond repayment over the next 20 years.
Putting pencil to paper, county auditor Les Korgel said presuming the $5 million bond is approved and the interest rate was 4 percent for 20 years, a taxpayer with a residence valued at $75,000 (the full and true value listed on a tax statement) would see an increase of $81 per year. On a quarter of land valued at $100,000, the increase in taxes would be $120 per year.
School officials note that while the district has no control over property valuation, increased state funding will offset the increase due to the bond issue.
