During its regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1, the Archuleta School District (ASD) Board of Education (BoE) unanimously approved a resolution for specific ballot language for a $79.9 million bond measure for voters to decide on this fall.
If approved, the bond would help fund a new pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade (PK-8) campus to be built on ASD’s Vista Boulevard property uptown, which the district already owns.
During the meeting, Superintendent Rick Holt explained that “what the resolution allows us to do is move forward with an item on the ballot, with the exact ballot language.”
BoE president Bob Lynch mentioned that the district has been working on this project for a few years now with facility assessments and engaging with the community about the future of ASD’s buildings.
He noted if the district were to build the PK-8 campus uptown, “this ballot language would fund that.”
Holt also explained that there is still a chance that the district might receive grant funding from the state’s Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) program this year “since we were the first runner-up” in the program’s grant applications.
“In order to accept those dollars, should they become available to us, we would need to have the matching dollars in hand, which means we will have had to demonstrate that we have passed our matching bond,” Holt said.
In May, ASD announced that it was the first on the waiting list for a BEST grant this year with its $50 million application request.
Holt noted that there is a benefit for the district if the bond measure is approved now given that building costs are increasing every year.
“That could benefit us greatly,” he said, adding there is an “urgency to create that match.”
BoE member Amanda Schick commented that the ballot language has been reviewed by professionals, and that it “supported everything that we have been working for, or towards.”
Holt also mentioned that specific language was added that states, “with the funding subject to an annual audit by an independent third-[party] expert,” even though that is not required by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).
“That is our offer to the community to continue to engage and be transparent about how those dollars are being spent,” he said.
Holt commented that TABOR rules around ballot measure wording “are sometimes challenging.”
He explained that three separate values have to be presented on the ballot, with one indicating how much the matching ask is, a second value showing the maximum amount the community would pay back and a third value showing how much would be collected yearly to service the debt.
“We want it to be as clear as possible, but TABOR law adds awesome complexity to it,” Holt said.
According to a press release from the district, “The estimated tax impact of the bond is approximately $5.15 per month for every $100,000 of a home’s ‘actual value,’ which is generally less than a home’s market value.”
Schick also encouraged the board to be active in communicating with the public about what exactly the district is asking voters to approve.
“For me, this accurately reflects the culmination of a long process of listening to the public,” Lynch said, explaining that the district made progress in choosing to build a new school rather than continuing to invest money in its existing buildings.
He also mentioned that the district made a “hard choice to build in a better spot,” with that being the uptown location.
He noted the uptown location would cost less and be a “better place” to spend public dollars, rather than compromising outdoor space by building downtown.
Lynch added that the uptown site is a “wiser” choice about “what’s going to serve kids better.”
Other comments from the board were made about the lack of information, or misinformation, amongst the community.
BoE member Butch Mackey commented that he’s been surprised how “people do not understand that we already own that land,” talking about the Vista Boulevard site.
Lynch explained that the district has owned that land for almost 60 years.
Holt also pointed out that a unique feature of this ballot measure “is that it’s contingent on us getting money from BEST. That means that if the ballot measure were to pass and we didn’t get money from BEST, we would not collect those dollars from the community until we were given money from BEST.”
He explained that, currently, the BEST program offers a 40 percent match on the total building cost, essentially giving the district an opportunity to get 40 percent off of a new school building “that we desperately need.”
BoE member Tim Taylor mentioned that BEST dollars are guaranteed for next year, though the exact amount is not known yet.
He also noted that, going forward, it is uncertain if BEST will continue to be a long-term program.
Lynch added that the district has also received strong community interest on what to do with the old elementary and middle school buildings, mentioning that he hopes there will be a “real ripple effect” of adding other important assets to the community.
clayton@pagosasun.com
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