The Wakefield Board of Education was expected to vote on a special meeting agenda topic for a resolution to file for a special election on November 14 to request a $46.8 million bond for the school at a special meeting planned for Wednesday, Sept. 13.
With the meeting being scheduled on Republican distribution day, the result of the vote will be post on the Republican’s social media as soon as it is known. The Board had uploaded the actual election language on Monday, Sept. 11 around 3 p.m., according to the school’s Sparq online meeting site.
The Board was considering a resolution that included $46 million in bonds for funding the “costs of constructing additions, renovations and improvements to the District’s existing school buildings and facilities and providing the necessary equipment and apparatus for such buildings and facilities.”
The Board had approved in June to hire Hausmann Construction for “Construction Management services” and JEO Consulting to provide a survey for school property. No documentation could be found on Sparq that either reports or plans were reviewed by the full board in public session prior to this Wednesday, but documentation was provided from the school on Tuesday by request.
If the resolution passed the Board’s approval on Wednesday, there would be a special election item created for Tuesday, Nov. 14 as a mail-in election for Wayne County collection (where the school district resides), and ballots provided to all Wakefield School District residents (as shown by the nearby map.)
If the resolution does not pass on Wednesday, there will be no bond election.
The election would be posed in a simple “FOR” or “AGAINST” format.
“Shall Wayne County School District 0560 (Wakefield Community Schools) in the State of Nebraska issue its general obligation bonds in an aggregate stated principal amount not to exceed Forty-Six Million Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars ($46,800,000), to pay the costs of constructing additions, renovations and improvements to the District’s existing school buildings and facilities, and providing necessary equipment and apparatus for such buildings and facilities; with such bonds to be issued in one or more series, at such time or times, to bear interest at such rate or rates, to be sold at such prices and to
become due at such time or times as may be fixed by, or determined at the direction of, the Board of Education; and “Shall the School District cause to be levied and collected annually a special levy of taxes against all the taxable property in the School District sufficient in rate and amount to pay the principal of and interest on such bonds as the same become due?”
A “FOR” vote would be to create and issue the $46 million in bonds and levy the tax to repay them on the schedule.
An “AGAINST” vote would be to not issue and create the $46 million in bonds and not levy the tax to repay them on the schedule.
As with Dixon County’s elections, this election would be held by mail-in ballots only – with no polling places available. Ballots would be mailed to all registered voters inside the district, and need to be mailed back or returned in person to the Election Commissioner prior to the November 14 deadline.
Deadlines for return
Deadline to register to vote in this election: November 3, 2023, 6 p.m. in person; by mail or agent, October 27, 2023
Deadline to return ballots: Tuesday, Nov. 14, 5 p.m. by mail, in person or by agent to Wayne County Election Commissioner’s office.
By the Numbers
The $46.8 million bond net tax levy impact report showed that the necessary levy increase would be 54 cents per $100 of valuation to cover the cost and make payments over the length of the bond.
Assumed in the math was a 30 year maturity bond with an average coupon interest of 4.2%, assessed valuations of Irrigated land at $4,161 and dryland at $4,158 per acre (adjusted for LB2 from last year), and a 10 percent valuation increase.
According to budget information that will be discussed with possible approval for the 2023-24 school year, the Board seems to indicate that they intend to lower the property tax request from $1.01 per $100 valuation to 76 cents per $100 valuation for the coming year – a reduction of 25 cents. Mainly that reduction came from an increase in state aid that the school will be receiving this year as a combination of the new school state aid formula and LB583 and LB243.
The documentation provided by the school indicates that because of the reduction from this year’s levy, the “net tax increase” would only be 29 cents the following year, though the levy will entirely increase by 54 cents overall.
Next year’s levy, if the bond passes, would increase to $1.30/$100 of valuation.
The “impact information” seems to indicate that the difference from 2023-24 for the bond would only be 29 cents, but the addition to repay the bond would be, in total, 54 cents.
If someone has a value of $100,000 in 2023-24, they would pay $760 (76c levy) in estimated tax for that year to the school system. If the bond passes, that figure on $100,000 would actually go to $1300 ($1.30 levy), not just 29 “net” cent increase the formula presented indicates.
The $46.8 million, amortized over 30 years at 4.2% would have monthly payments of $222,860, and a total payoff (principle + interest) of $82,389.613.