Comments on: Superintendent Asks School Board to Send Bond Referendum to City

By: Pierce

Pierce — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 02:02:14 +0000

TeeRuss, thanks for bringing some firm numbers to this question. The size of the bond is intimidating, but debt service doesn’t sound too bad if your numbers are right.

You raise a good point- if the cost is really about operating expense and not capital, our discussions around zero build are likely moot. Nobody has argued that we should degrade the quality of education, which means we cannot realistically stop the growth enrollment.

This is why expanding the tax base is so important.

By: Rick Julian

Rick Julian — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 21:42:32 +0000

let’s annex W. Paces Ferry.

By: TeeRuss

TeeRuss — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 21:40:41 +0000

Read page 12. It lays out the millage impact of option 3, which is what is being proposed. It would increase the bond millage by 1.04.

By: TeeRuss

TeeRuss — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 21:38:23 +0000

And just for more context, the school system operation millage rate is 20.9. So combine the two, operational 20.9 and bond 1.42, and you get an overall millage rate of 22.32. If the bond referendum passes this would increase to 23.36, a 4.6% increase.

So my first comment is, everyone needs to simmer down about the tax impacts of this bond referendum. And the reason why is my second comment:

The real hit to our wallets will come from the cost of educating twice as many students. Think about it – a debt service increase of $2-4 million a year vs. a salary increase of $24 million a year. Where is that money going to come from?

I came across this “oh crap” moment last night while looking at the budget. Many of you are right in saying that we can’t afford this massive enrollment explosion, but not because of the cost of buildings. We’ve got serious problems to solve.

By: How Do We Pay for This?

How Do We Pay for This? — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 21:01:21 +0000

1.42 is millage for the 2013 Debt, it does not take in to account the necessary millage to cover the $59.5 million. Plus when you look at CSD Master Plan on page 11 which is a financing summary, it shows $78 million at 20 years having a millage rate of 3.96 and $396 on a $200,000 home. If we look at 25 years, the millage is 3.42 and $342 on a $200,000 home. Most homes are coming in close to $400,00, not $200,000.

Of course this is all to say WHERE is the financing summary for the option that is under consideration. What is the impact of the debt on the average Decatur taxpayer?