School board modifies millage ballot language

By BY BRETT BENNETT Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted: July 29, 2009 at 7:06 a.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — A minimum quorum of Fayetteville School Board members met Tuesday morning and decided to add the words up to on the Sept. 15 millage as a point of clarification on how many bonds will be issued.

Four board members - Vice President Tim Hudson, Steve Percival, Tim Kring and Jim Halsell - out of seven were present. Susan Heil, Becky Purcell and Howard Hamilton were absent.

The intent of the meeting was to make any changes to the election question before county officials print the ballots.

The ballot measure had stated $115,825,000 in proposed bonds, although thedistrict's plan had been to issue $113 million for the project. Also, the ballot measure describes the length of the bond as 35 years instead of 30, the board's desired length for the bonds' repayment.

Dennis Hunt, of Stephens Inc., the district's bond advisers, said the $115 million figure is designed to include costs and fees associated with issuing $113million in bonds.

Asked if a good comparison might be the closing costs tacked on top of the cost of issuing a home loan, Hunt said that would be a fair comparison.

"Everything in the ballot is a maximum," he said. "We put 35 (years) in the ballot. We're dealing with a lot of variables."

He suggested adding the words up to before theamount and the bond note as a way to clarify the ballot measure.

Hunt recommended the board not make any other changes.

Hudson expressed some concern that the ballot question does not specifically list the high school project, but Hunt said the actual written ballot question usually isn't project specific.

The district is seeking a 4.9-mill increase to redevelop the high school campus with new academic facilities, which would increase the overall property tax rate in Fayetteville to 47.8 mills. The board's plan involves restructuring the property so the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard boundary becomes the new face of the campus.

News, Pages 3 on 07/29/2009

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