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For St. Francis school board, an all or nothing choice
The school board decides to keep it simple and risk a setback in asking for a levy to eliminate a budget deficit.
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St. Francis schools will go back to the voters in November to try to wipe out a deficit that could reach $4.5 million in the 2009-2010 school year.
Board members -- who had already agreed to hold a referendum on Election Day, Nov. 4 -- decided Tuesday to pose only one question to district voters. Originally, district officials had toyed with the idea of breaking up their request into three questions, in the hopes of getting at least some of what they want. But citizens attending a public meeting May 20 said they wanted to go for the whole amount in one question.
"The overwhelming voice that kept coming out of people was that they wanted it simple and less confusing," said Board Chairman Dave Anderson. "The majority of people wanted a single question, and they wanted no budget cuts." Additional e-mails and phone calls to board members also reflected that consensus, Anderson said.
If approved, the levy will replace an existing levy that expires in 2008-09. It also adds on an inflationary increase.
St. Francis Superintendent Edward Saxton said the levy would raise $4.5 million a year over seven years. Saxton said, if approved, that would add $8.88 per month to the property tax bill for a district home with a taxable value of $200,000.
St. Francis officials have cut $1.2 million out of the 2008-09 budget after a three-part referendum request failed last year. That request would have raised $4 million a year over seven years.
The district has had mixed results in its efforts to raise more tax money from its voters. Voters passed an operating levy in 2003, but four efforts to get voter approval for bonds to build a new elementary school have failed.
What about the idea of holding a referendum on the same day as a presidential election? Conventional wisdom says that's a bad idea, that too many voters eyeing a tax increase on their ballots spell doom for any funding request.
"There's always a larger voter turnout for a presidential election, no doubt," Anderson said. "The bigger fear for me is not making a hard-fought effort to make the public understand the needs of the district. ... And there is no doubt that we need the money."
"There are a lot of pundits who will tell you to stay away from a presidential year or gubernatorial elections," Saxton said. "Personally, I'm never bothered when a lot of people have a chance to weigh in on an issue. ... I think when people turn out to vote that's a good thing."
Norman Draper • 612-673-4547
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