Published: April 30, 2008 12:00 pm            

It was a long wait

TOOL — A crowd of about 50 potential Tool voters showed up for what they thought would be a meeting to learn details of Malakoff Independent School District’s desire to pass a $7 million bond issue.

As it turned out, only a half dozen of those potential voters were around to hear Malakoff Superintendent John Spies, and Trustee Todd Larue discuss the bond after the regularly-scheduled school board meeting ended about 9:30 p.m..

School officials at Malakoff either forgot, or chose not to, include on the week’s agenda, any mention of the bond.

Larue told those in the audience some of the board members would be willing to stick around after the regularly scheduled meeting to discuss the bond, if potential voters wanted to stay.

Most of the residents did stay through the first two-hours of the nearly three hour meeting, only to hear the board members announce they were going into executive session, which they did for the next 40 minutes.

When they came back, the auditorium at the Tool Elementary School was almost vacant.

Before board members went into executive session to discuss teachers hirings and resignations, one disgruntled woman walked out saying the board probably left the bond issue off the agenda because members didn’t want to answer difficult questions in a public forum.

But Spies addressed those who stayed and answered every question. To his way of thinking, the district would be foolish to pass up an opportunity to keep more funds in the district to meet facility needs.

Once the item was left off the agenda, the board had little choice but to go through the meeting without mention of the bond.

To have called a town meeting to discuss it on such short notice would have been illegal. It would also have been illegal not to start the board meeting at the 7 p.m. time, as had been publicly posted.

The old saying of “Rules is rules” was obediently observed to the end, when four of the council members had to leave so there wouldn’t be more than three of them together in a non-meeting to now vote in favor of the bond on May 10 remains to be seen.

But Spies is convinced the bond is in the district’s best interest.

Some Tool critics have questioned the district’s priorities, though, including a desire for some of the funds to be earmarked for needs at Tool Elementary.

Because of still more state rules, only certain purchases can be made with certain dollars.

Here’s how the district believes it can finance the $7 million bond without costing tax payers any more money:

Since MISD is designated a property-rich district, it has to send thousands of dollars to Austin and the Texas Education Agency each year.

That means less money to spend on things needed in the district.

There are the operations and maintenance costs (M&O) that have to come out of each year’s budget. The rest of the money goes to pay down bonds.

No money designated for bond projects, leaves the district. Money designated for daily operations, on the other hand, is money the state can gets its hands on.

The solution then, is to move some of the money from the operating side of the budget to the bond side, where the state can’t touch it.

The math works like this:

The current $1.03 per $100 valuation paid by district taxpayers, would be reduced to 98 cents per $100 valuation.

Currently, the district is charging taxpayers 13 cents per $100 valuation for I & S, i.e. bond funds.

By taking the nickel mentioned above from M&O and applying it to the I&S number, the district would then be getting 18 cents per $100 valuation.

The numbers column switch is a wash.

You’re paying $1.16 for district taxes now, and you’d be paying $1.16 in the future.

The difference is, the M&O column is lighter, meaning the district has less money to send to Austin, which means keep more money hear, like $7 million over the life of the bond (10 years).

The I&S column, is a nickel higher, and the district gets to keep all of that money for MISD projects.

According to their numbers, the proposed bond, paid off over a 10-year period, with the anticipated continued growth in property values in the district, along with continued population growth, will take care of the $7 million tab.

The unattractive alternative, Malakoff officials say, is to vote against the bond, let the extra M&O dollars continue going to Austin, and risk a tax increase down the road.

One critic said the school can’t be sure of future tax rates. Spies agreed with that assessment but said by keeping the extra money in the district, it would go a long way toward preventing a necessity to raise the tax rate.

The district has to update some of its facilities to be in compliance with state mandates.

Without those funds shifted from M&O, voters, in effect, would be paying taxes for the money going to Austin, and still more taxes so the district can make up the Austin losses. Many of those improvements are state mandates.

Early voting begins on May 6 from 8 a..m to 4 p.m. at the Malakoff ISD Administration Building, 813-E. Royall Blvd.

Voting on election day begins at 7 p.m. at Malakoff City Hall for precincts 1M, 1MN, 2 PS at 109 South Melton St. in Malakoff, and at the same time for precincts 1T and ITC at Oran White Civic CEnter at 701 N. Tool Drive in Tool.

For more information, see www.malakoffisd.org, or call 903-489-1152.

        

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