STATE FUNDING: District Considers Offer

PROPERTY TAX INCREASE NEEDED TO RECEIVE MONEY FOR TWO SCHOOLS

Michael Bisbee, with Multi-Craft Contractors, shifts a section of structural steel as a co-worker uses a loader to stack the pieces Tuesday at Central Junior High School in Springdale. The pieces will be moved by a 60-ton crane for construction of an addition to the school.
Michael Bisbee, with Multi-Craft Contractors, shifts a section of structural steel as a co-worker uses a loader to stack the pieces Tuesday at Central Junior High School in Springdale. The pieces will be moved by a 60-ton crane for construction of an addition to the school.

The Arkansas Department of Education will provide up to $17.9 million toward building a middle school and junior high school in Springdale.

To receive the money, the district needs to get $30.5 million to finance its share of the construction.

This will require a voter-approved property tax increase. “We need to look at it even in these tough economic times,” Superintendent Jim Rollins said.

Over the next few months, Rollins said he hopes to have a conversation with the community about the need for more schools and how to finance them.

“That (state funding) is a critical part of the decision-making process,” Rollins said.

The state’s offer has an expiration date. The district must have the project under way by Jan. 31, 2011, said Doug Eaton, director of the department’s facilities division.

“There must be a signed construction contract by that date,” Eaton said.

District officials expect enrollment to grow, especially on the east side. Enrollment continued to grow for 2009-10, exceeding 18,100 students.

“There’s no doubt that Springdale has continued to grow over the years, even through this (economic) slowdown,” Mayor Doug Sprouse said.

The Springdale School Board voted Dec. 8 to take out $12.2 million in bonds to build an elementary school.

The district has built eight schools since voters approved the last millage increase request in 2003. The newest elementary school is probably the last school that can be built without a tax increase, Rollins said.

“I think people expect us to do all we can (before raising taxes),” he added. “We’ve really worked hard to use the revenue patrons have put forward, but we continue to grow.”

Beardsley Finance, the district’s bond-financing firm, estimated a 1.4 mill tax increase would be needed to finance all three projects. Officials haven’t determined a new millage amount for only the middle school and junior high school.

“We’re going full speed with the elementary school,” district spokesman Rick Schaeffer said. “Beyond that, we’re still in the discussion phase.”

The district plans to build the elementary school in Sonora along U.S. 412 and open it for the 2011-12 school year.

The middle school and junior high school would also be on the district’s east side.

Letting the expiration date pass does not mean the district cannot reapply for assistance on the projects. However, the state can change the criteria for awarding assistance, and the money may be harder to get in the future, Rollins said.

The amount of any tax increase request could also go up if the district adds other items, such as a football stadium for Har-Ber High School and improvements to Jerrell Williams Bulldog Stadium. Rollins has discussed those ideas with the board.

Millage elections in Arkansas can only be held once per calendar year and must be announced at least 60 days in advance. September is the usual month for the election, but the district could decide to hold it earlier.

It is a tough time to ask for a tax increase, said Sprouse, who is a former school board member.

“At the same time ... if the population is here, we’ve got to have buildings to put (students) in,” Sprouse said.

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