Jacksonville district to start early voting today on school levy

Early voting begins today for the May 21 election in Arkansas school districts -- including the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District -- that have opted to hold school board and tax elections this month rather than in November.

The Jacksonville/North Pulaski election consists of two uncontested races for School Board seats and the proposed extension of an existing tax mill levy. Those mills are scheduled to expire in 2042. If voters approve, the mills would be scheduled to expire in 2055.

Incumbent Marcia Dornblaser is running unopposed for the Jacksonville School Board's Zone 1 position. Ronald McDaniel, the board's current president, is running unopposed for the district's at-large Zone 2 position.

If approved, the proposed 13-year extension of 22.4 debt-service mills would be used to finance school building construction in a system that is in the midst of building all new campuses to fulfill commitments in a federal school desegregation lawsuit. The district's overall property tax rate is 48.3 mills.

The proposed extension, if approved by voters, would not increase a resident's annual property tax payment, but it would increase the number of years in which the taxes must be paid.

Early voting can be done at the following times and locations:

• 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Friday and May 20 at the Pulaski County Regional Building, 501 W. Markham St., which is at the corner of Broadway and West Markham Street, just south of the Broadway bridge, in Little Rock.

• 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Friday, Jacksonville Community Center, 5 Municipal Drive in Jacksonville.

"Fundamentally, it comes down to the fact that we are being asked by the federal court to build four more schools and we are asking for the millage to be extended to be able to do that," said Robert Price, economic director for the city of Jacksonville and chairman of the community campaign for the millage plan.

The proposed tax extension -- which has generated some questions and some opposition on social media and at an earlier public forum -- will be the topic of a public town-hall-style meeting at 6 p.m. today at the Jacksonville Community Center. Superintendent Bryan Duffie and School Board member Daniel Gray are among the people who will be on hand at the session to respond to questions from audience members, Price said.

"Against the Jacksonville Millage Campaign" is a Facebook site administered by Debbie Sullivan Fulton. The site states that the group's members are opposed to a tax increase to support long-term debt after raising taxes in the community three years ago in 2016.

The Jacksonville/North Pulaski district only began operating independently of the Pulaski County Special School District in July 2016, but the new district inherited the desegregation obligations of the Pulaski Special district -- including the obligation to make its campuses comparable with the new, more modern schools in the neighboring Pulaski County Special district.

U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. ruled in September that the Jacksonville district will be entitled to be released from federal court supervision of its buildings by 2026 if it follows through on its commitments.

Marshall is the presiding judge in the 36-year-old Pulaski County school desegregation lawsuit.

The Jacksonville district's 22.4 existing debt-service mills -- passed as part of the new school district's overall 48.3-mill tax rate -- generated money for the purchase of schools from the Pulaski County Special district and for the construction of the new Bobby G. Lester Elementary School in August 2018 and the new Jacksonville High School that will open this August. Lester Elementary replaced the now demolished Arnold Drive and Tolleson elementaries.

The district is planning to build a new middle school and elementary school on Linda Lane. The elementary would replace the existing Pinewood and Dupree elementaries. Replacements for Bayou Meto Elementary and Murrell Taylor Elementary would follow, if funding is available.

By continuing the 22.4-mill tax levy beyond the current 2042 expiration date to a new expiration date of 2055, district leaders anticipate having sufficient revenue to pay debt service on a series of bonds issued for the district's share of construction costs for a new middle school and as many as three new elementary schools, Duffie said Monday.

The proposed extension would support the refinancing of the district's existing debt and generate an additional $60 million in new money -- making available a total of $116,340,000 for the district's share of the capital construction program.

That would be paired with state school construction aid, Duffie said, adding that state funding is essential to the building plan.

The state to date has been responsible for about 47% of the costs of new academic space in Jacksonville/North Pulaski, but that percentage will decline to about 43% in the near term, Duffie also said.

That's partly because the state's share of construction aid is based on a local district's property wealth, and the Jacksonville district wealth has increased relative to other districts in the state.

Additionally, a change in state law on school construction aid is expected to drop the state percentage of aid to the Jacksonville district into the 30s in coming years, Duffie said.

Duffie said Monday that without the millage extension, the district could pay for the middle school and one elementary school by issuing second-lien bonds that don't require voter approval.

However, that would not be sufficient to pay for the final two elementary schools, he said. The district would have to try to pass a tax plan in 2020 and/or or return to the federal court for guidance from the federal judge on how to proceed.

"JNPSD's plan is extraordinary," Marshall wrote in his September order. "Within approximately a dozen years of its creation, the District will have built a new high school, a new middle school, and four new elementary schools. JNPSD's good faith is demonstrated by the plan itself and the progress already made."

The judge also wrote: "If JNPSD implements and completes its 2018 master facilities plan, as modified, it will be unitary in facilities in approximately 2026. The Court looks forward to that day."

Price, the campaign chairman, said on Monday that the campaign has raised about $20,000 for materials and services in the campaign.

The campaign's website is: Ourowndistrict.com.

The website includes a set of "Frequently Asked Questions" about the tax measure as well as the federal judge's Sept. 25, 2018, ruling on issues pertaining to the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district, including the district's school construction plans and timelines.

Metro on 05/14/2019

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