W. Valley seeks $3.5 million bond

The way school board trustees see it, West Valley School District is between the proverbial rock and hard place.

On the one hand, increased enrollment has crowded some classrooms and hallways. There are 435 students enrolled, close to the building’s 444-student “practical capacity,” as determined recently by Idaho-based consultants recently named — and nearing the building’s maximum capacity of 477.

On the other hand, to get the space they have to ask taxpayers in the district to support a bond issue.

And when unemployment is at 13 percent and family finances are tight, many voters might not be able to shoulder more taxes — especially those for the $4.5 million bond issue the district discussed at community meetings last week.

To balance the two opposing interests, trustee Gary Krueger pitched a new option at Monday’s board meeting: slashing $1 million off the proposed bond request.

The other four trustees agreed and the board voted unanimously to ask voters to approve a $3.5 million bond issue.

The district will conduct the election by mail; ballots will be sent out May 25 and must be returned to the district office by June 15.

Passing a smaller bond issue isn’t an ideal solution, Krueger acknowledged. Taxes would still go up, and the school might not have the room it needs if subdivisions in the area begin to build out in the next two decades.

“We may end up shortening the time frame we can fix our current problems,” Krueger said. “But I believe we can get a lot of what we need for $3.5 million, especially in this tough economic time.”

Krueger said that after hearing from community members at public meetings last week and after talking to contractors, former board members and other school districts, he thought West Valley could get a good-sized addition for around $200 a square foot.

The district wouldn’t be able to get everything it could for $4.5 million, of course. The middle school wing officials hope to build might have fewer classrooms and forego the kitchen they want.

But trustees supported asking for the smaller bond amount.

“I think that tells our taxpayers that we are serious about what they’ve said, and I think we also get a middle school wing that we can live with,” Krueger said.

The bond issue’s tax impacts aren’t yet certain; they depend on whether West Valley can secure zero percent interest on the bonds through a federal Qualified School Construction Bond grant. Such a grant for Cayuse Prairie School helped persuade voters in November to approve the district’s $1.95 million request to build a new gym.

The grant would save West Valley up to $1.9 million in interest, clerk Cindy Foley said.

“I think it would be irresponsible not to put this in front of taxpayers,” trustee Rochelle Nicholson said. “If we came back in a year [with a bond request], we will have missed the opportunity to save $2 million.”

Foley said she has yet to receive an application for the grant through the state Office of Public Instruction but hopes to have one by Friday. Districts have a month to complete the application, and Foley said Monday it could be June before she finds out whether the district has received a grant.

Trustees hope the grant would give the district a 16-year term with no interest on the bonds. That would mean annual property taxes would increase $88 on a home with a $150,000 taxable value, Foley said.

If the district doesn’t get the grant, trustees would pursue bonds with the lowest possible interest rate, she said. A 20-year tax-free bond term with 3.75 percent interest would raise annual property taxes on a home with a $150,000 taxable value by about $100.

A more conservative 4.75 percent rate on a 20-year tax-free bond term would raise property taxes on a home with a $150,000 taxable value by about $109 a year.

Local taxes in the West Valley district already fund about $692,300 of the district’s budget. That’s a 37 percent increase in local tax contributions over five years, West Valley resident Diane Etter pointed out at Monday’s meeting.

Much of the tax burden can be traced to the district’s increased enrollment, Foley said Tuesday. With 435 students as of Tuesday, there are nearly 70 more students at West Valley than there were five years ago.

As enrollment increases, so does the district’s budget authority. Money to meet increased budget authority comes from state and federal sources, which have increased 33 percent over the last five years in West Valley, and from local taxpayers.

West Valley residents also are paying for a $98,000 levy that passed by six votes in 2007, Foley pointed out. That levy helped increase local taxpayers’ contributions to the school by about $100,000 in one year. One-time-only contributions from state and federal sources increased during the same year.

Meanwhile, taxpayers are still paying off the $1.9 million bond request they approved in 2000 to build new classrooms, a library and gym at West Valley. Last week the district refinanced those bonds and reduced the 10 years remaining on the term to five years, Foley said.

The district also secured an interest rate of 2.17 percent, down from the 5.43 percent it was paying. Refinancing will save taxpayers almost $300,000.

For additional information about West Valley’s bond issue, call the school at 755-7239.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.