SCHOOL PLAN MINIMIZES BOND SALES, SAY DESIGNERS; MUCH COULD BE DONE EARLY ON, THEY BELIEVE

A proposal for Cape Girardeau public schools would turn a 69-cent tax levy increase into a new elementary building, vocational school and high school, an addition to Jefferson Elementary School, and improvements, including air conditioning, at other buildings.

Designers of the plan say it all would be possible through a two-phase approach.

The plan would allow the district to accomplish as much as possible during the first two years, said Dr. Ken Dobbins, who served on the committee that drafted the proposal. At the same time, the plan would minimizes the dollar amount of bonds to be sold and the tax-levy increase.

An 11-member finance committee presented its recommendation to the Cape Girardeau Board of Education Tuesday. The school board is expected to discuss the proposal at its Oct. 21 meeting.

If the board accepts the proposal, voters would see two proposals on the April ballot: one authorizing the school board to sell $14 million in bonds and the other waiving the Proposition C rollback. Approval of both is necessary for the plan to work, said Dr. Dan Tallent, superintendent of Cape Girardeau public schools.

The $14 million in bonds would be used to fund the first phase of improvements: a new elementary school, a new vocational school and some renovations.

A school district bond issue is similar to a homeowner's mortgage. The school district would borrow money by selling bonds. The borrowed money would pay for construction and renovations. Over 20 years the district would pay off the bonds using money generated from a 30-cent tax-levy increase. The money collected could be used only to pay off the bonds.

In addition to the bond issue, the committee recommended waiving the district's 39-cent Proposition C rollback. That would mean 39 cents per $100 assessed valuation would be added to the district's general revenue fund. The district would have some discretion in how that money would be spent.

Tallent said that in the beginning of the plan most of the money generated from the 39-cent levy would be used for construction costs. As the plan progressed, some of that money could be shifted to pay some of the debt. Later the money could again be shifted to pay for new equipment or salaries for new teachers.

If the first two ballot issues were approved, voters would be asked to approve sale of another $14 million in bonds around the year 2000 to pay for construction of a new high school and more renovations. The second round of bonds could be paid off with the same 30-cent tax increase, meaning taxes wouldn't be raised a second time.

Dobbins said the combination funding plan would generate money for construction and to improve academic programs. For example, money would be available to build computer labs, buy computers and train teachers about computers.

"That's why we think this plan is very attractive," Dobbins said.

In addition, because 30 cents would be placed into the district's debt-service budget fund, the school district would be eligible for about $145,000 in additional money from railroad and utility taxes. That money is distributed to schools based on the levy in the debt-service fund. Cape Girardeau's levy for debt is currently zero, and the district gets no money.

In calculating how much money is needed to pay for the projects, a conservative estimate was made for the growth of assessed valuation, Dobbins and Tallent explained,

Property taxes are paid as a portion of each $100 in assessed valuation. As that value rises, the money going to the school district also goes up.

"We used an estimate on assessed value of 2.5 percent," Dobbins said.

Over the past five years, assessed values in the district have actually increased an average of 4.4 percent.

Dobbins said, "We believe that cushion will make sure that the 30-cent levy amount will be the maximum."

If assessed values rise rapidly, the levy could be less. The school board sets a new levy each year to make sure enough money is collected that year to pay the debt.