PEARCY — Lake Hamilton School District residents will vote Feb. 12 on a proposed 3.9-mill increase and debt restructuring to support a $36 million building plan.
Superintendent Steve Anderson said it is the third time in 25 years that the district has asked for a millage increase.
Anderson said the timing of the proposed increase is tied to state partnership funds that would mean $4.4 million for the Lake Hamilton District.
“We have to do our part to get that money,” he said.
Lake Hamilton would be responsible for 60 percent of the costs of building a new middle school and a new agricultural sciences building if the projects are under contract by October.
Anderson said there is a chance that more partnership funds could become available for later building projects.
Assistant Superintendent Shawn Higginbotham said patrons in the Lake Hamilton School District have never paid the full 37.7-mill rate that was approved in a 2006 election.
The millage rate was rolled back based on increasing property values in the district. A mill is one-tenth of a cent, generating $1 of property taxes for every $1,000 of assessed value. A county assesses property at 20 percent of its appraised value, and the assessment is multiplied by the millage rate to determine the tax bill.
Higginbotham presented data showing Lake Hamilton’s current 36.7-mill rate to be in the middle of the pack in Garland County and in the state.
Higginbotham said 131 out of 241 school districts in Arkansas have higher millage rates than Lake Hamilton and three districts in the county have higher assessed property values.
Anderson said the millage was not about buildings but about educating children and providing a secure and effective educational environment for all students
Lake Hamilton Middle School was built in 1964, and the gym was erected in 1952. Anderson cited electrical, structural, drainage and various other issues with the current facility.
The new middle school building would be a two-story structure and appear similar to the intermediate school.
The millage increase would allow the district to combat crowding. Anderson said the new projects would help to accommodate 1,000 more students, ensuring long-term growth for Lake Hamilton schools.
Anderson said the district’s building plan is partly the result of a 2010 parent survey.
Anderson said the parents voted that the top priority should be adding a pre-kindergarten program, adding that Lake Hamilton is the only school in Garland County without one.
A program would be included in classroom additions with approval of the new millage, he said.
Parents said a new middle school was the next highest priority, followed by a new athletic facility and an all purpose performing arts auditorium.
Anderson said he believes that all of the projects will eventually be built based on the growth of the school district, but that construction prices and lack of partnership funds could make the challenge more difficult in the future.
He said that the schools’ academic and athletic facilities would face increasing crowding in the meantime and that short-term solutions like portable classrooms are not favorable.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 01/28/2013