Two school districts in Franklin County are asking voters on Tuesday to approve tax measures to raise money for capital improvements totaling a combined $29.3 million.
In Ozark, school officials are asking voters to approve a 5.5-mill property tax increase to generate $16.9 million for its capital project. The district now levies 8 mills for debt service.
If approved, that money would be added to the $3.26 million the district is receiving in State Facility Partnership funds from the Arkansas Department of Facilities and Transportation, Ozark School District Superintendent Jim Ford said.
The Charleston School District now levies 12.5 mills to service its debt on earlier projects and does not seek an increase in Tuesday's election. Instead, Superintendent Jeff Stubblefield said, the School Board proposes to issue new bonds totaling $9.17 million to refund outstanding bonds and pay for an additional set of improvements.
If approved by the voters, the new bonds would mature in 30 years, which would extend the district's current debt service by 12 years, he said.
If voters rejected the millage question, the millage rate for debt service would remain as it is.
A mill is one-tenth of a cent. Each mill is charged against each dollar of assessed value and would therefore produce $1 of tax for each $1,000 of valuation.
A county assesses property at 20 percent of its appraised value. The assessment is multiplied by the millage rate to determine the taxes owed.
Each of the school districts levy 25 mills for maintenance and operations.
Ford said the Ozark School District plans to build a new junior high school for eighth and ninth grades on district land where the high school sits. The high school cafeteria would be expanded to serve the junior and senior high schools.
The junior high school project would also include construction of a 500-seat auditorium, he said.
The district also wants to build an addition to the upper elementary school to provide space for first through third grades. With the additional classroom space, the school also would get a new media center and cafeteria.
The current primary school, built in 1967, would be demolished to make room for the upper elementary school addition, Ford said.
The millage election comes just more than a month after Ozark voters approved a 1 percent sales tax for a recreation complex and for a new police/fire station.
Ford said he didn't think passage of the sales tax would jeopardize passage of the additional property tax but that it would build on momentum for community improvements started by the sales tax election.
With approval of the Charleston School Board's proposal to issue new bonds, Stubblefield said, the district would begin the final phase of a 10-year plan to upgrade the district's schools. Earlier phases included construction of a new high school and expansion of the district's elementary school.
The final phase, he said, consists of improving safety on campus by making entrances to the buildings more secure, enlarging the parking area, improving circulation through the parking area and improving accessibility for the handicapped.
He said plans also call for making improvements to the office, library, nurse station and counseling areas in the elementary school.
Stubblefield said he thought voters would appreciate the fact that the district was proposing to make the improvements without asking for a millage increase.
State Desk on 09/14/2015