SAN ANGELO, TX — Trustees and school administrators from the San Angelo ISD faced conservative skeptics at the monthly meeting of the San Angelo Pachyderm Club Wednesday as they continued efforts to educate the public on the reasons the school district is seeking a $148.9 million bond. The bond must be approved by voters in a May 5 election. Early voting begins April 23.
Board of Trustees Vice President Max Parker introduced the bond as a topic of discussion. He stressed that the bond is the second part of 2008’s $117 million bond.
A question from the audience immediately followed. How much remaining does the school district owe on that $117 million bond from 2008?
According to financial reports from the San Angelo ISD, the district currently has three outstanding long-term debt instruments. District CFO Jeff Bright said the district continuously re-evaluates the current market and interest rates to get the best rates.
Originally for $117 million, the 2008 bond balance today is $95,829,982. Like a mortgage, the first 10 years nibbled just a small portion, about $21 million, from the principle. Two other debt instruments encapsulate older debt, totaling exactly $10 million. As of the end of the third quarter last year, the last date where public records are accessible online, the total long-term debt the district owes is $105,829,982.
The audience peppered district officials with questions about the current debt, and why does not the school district pay off the 2008 bond before asking for the next bond?
Parker’s contention was this bond pays for “part 2” of the re-building process started in 2008. Yet, the total building and construction needs for the district today are in the neighborhood of an additional $330 million according to previous presentations.
Superintendent Dr. Carl Dethloff said that the district is asking for $148.9 million because the district’s internal polling determined that support for a bond, and the property tax increase that accompanies it, falls off dramatically beyond the $150 million level.
The next question was, if the voters approve this $148.9 million bond May 5, when will the district ask again for more money?
Dethloff said he hoped never again in his career (he’s in his mid-40s, so 20 years or so?). But the real answer can be found by asking how much debt can the San Angelo ISD take on, since the Texas Legislature caps the total property tax rate at $1.67 per $100 in property valuation.
If the $148.9 million bond is approved, it will raise the Interest and Sinking (I&S) portion of the school district’s tax rate from $0.17 per $100 in valuation to $0.3125. The Maintenance and Operations (M&O) rate remains unchanged at $1.04. The bond will increase the San Angelo ISD’s portion of the property taxes (adding both M&O and I&S components) from $1.21 to $1.3525.
The Texas Legislature caps the total tax rate, the sum of M&O and I&S, at $1.67 per $100 for school districts in Texas.
If every $0.1425 increase in the I&S tax rate can finance approximately $148.9 million in debt, we conclude that the most additional debt the district can take on is around $481 million, or 3.2 times the current bond proposal. There is no intention of the school district to take it that far, however. And, if the I&S was at the maximum, there is no wiggle room for increasing the M&O should operational situations dictate. Dethloff said about 85 percent of the M&O tax pays district salaries.
District officials stressed that the 2008 bond was executed on schedule and on budget. In addition, over the last 10 years, the Board of Trustees has approved spending an additional $3 million per year saved out of the M&O budget for district facility improvements, about $30 million total.
The needs of facility improvements remain, however, Parker said. Speaking of the pay-as-you-go model the district has embarked upon over the past 10 years, Parker said, “We can’t get there this way.” A new elementary school costs approximately $25 million, Dethloff said. It will take 10 years to save enough money to build one.
The facility needs assessment that the $148.9 million bond proposal is based upon will pay for four elementary schools to be at least 80 percent rebuilt, Dethloff said. That is not all the bond will finance. Here are all the proposed projects the bond will pay for, as released by the District in January:
| Facility | Objective | Estimated Cost |
|---|---|---|
| McGill Elementary | additions and renovations | $22,200,000 |
| Fort Concho Elementary | renovations (controlled vestibule, fencing) | $1,000,000 |
| Bonham Elementary | renovations (controlled vestibule, fencing) | $2,000,000 |
| Alta Loma Elementary | additions and renovations | $14,900,000 |
| Bowie Elementary | additions and renovations | $18,100,000 |
| Austin Elementary | renovations only | $13,500,000 |
| Fannin Elementary | additions and renovations | $18,000,000 |
| Belaire Elementary | renovations (rr renov, controlled vestibule, fencing) | $2,000,000 |
| Glenn Middle School | additions and renovations (additional classrooms, new band, control vest, cafeteria addition, renov boys gym) | $15,000,000 |
| Lincoln Middle School | controlled entry vestibule | $500,000 |
| Lincoln Middle School | new 4 lane track | $400,000 |
| Central HS | New Multipurpose Center | $30,400,000 |
| Central Freshman Campus | restroom renov only | $5,000,000 |
| Central HS | New Auditorium | $0 |
| Central HS | band expansion phase 2 & 3 0 | $0 |
| Lake View HS | BB/SB locker rms, rr, concess. | $3,000,000 |
| Lake View HS | CTE additions & renovations | $0 |
| Central HS | cafeteria expansion | $0 |
| Carver Learning Center | $0 | |
| San Angelo Stadium | ADA upgrades | $0 |
| San Angelo Stadium | New Press Box | $0 |
| Additional Projects That Could Fit | ||
| Central HS | band expansion phase 2 & 3 | $5,500,000 |
| Lake View HS | CTE additions & renovations | $6,200,000 |
| Central HS | cafeteria expansion | $5,200,000 |
| Carver Learning Center | $4,400,000 | |
| San Angelo Stadium | ADA upgrades | $5,000,000-$7,700,000 |
(Items with $0 annotated may indicate the project will not be included in the proposed bond construction projects).
More on the May 5 bond election:
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Comments
Why was the maintenance not done on these builds so that they would not require being completely rebuilt? Its like when they wanted to build a new high school but never maintained the one they already had. If the buildings are not being maintained on a regular basis they will all have to be rebuilt. I would love to see an expense report showing what maintenance has been done along with a schedule of when it is done.
If they want more money they need to prove they are good stewards of the money they have.
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PermalinkIt's nice to see someone who's not just complaining about how our taxes are used but is taking the time to express the actual reason behind disagreeing with a certain practice of the government. It truly is high time that we begin to hold others accountable for stewarding our resources properly. I do think it will likely take quite a bit of time and maybe some controversy before we see that come to pass.
I felt like the bailouts of 08' we're a good example of terrible stewardship as well when you look at how intensely we are held accountable for our financial stewardship.
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PermalinkIt was the SAISD that influenced me to move to Irion County. Forget the maintenance records, post the salaries of the administration. Your right, all school taxes are too high.
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PermalinkJoe posted the link to the Salaries in one of the other articles covering this issue.
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PermalinkI retract my earlier rant, as I learn more about these matters of government and use the various other tools at my disposal with the Bible, I have learned a great deal more about the operation of civil and federal government.
"The biblical standard of equality undergirds all English and American law, as embodied in the concept of common law. “Inherent in the word, common, as it is used in the common law is an endorsement of the principle of legal equality.”60 The principle that all men are created equal before the law was acknowledged as a self-evident truth in the Declaration of Independence.61 The Declaration thus affirmed “that the common good could be achieved only through a faithful adherence to the principle of equality for all men.”62 Further, the Declaration declares only that the pursuit of happiness is an unalienable right, not the achievement of happiness. Thus, the perspective of the Founders was one disposed towards equal legal opportunity for happiness, not its equal factual attainment."
"Federal taxation in the United States is governed by this same law of equality. This conclusion rests upon the fact that the Constitution created neither the legal context of the nation nor the nation itself. Our Constitution presupposes both the legal context of “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” set forth in the Declaration, and also that the nation was formed by the Declaration. To maintain that an unequal exercise of the taxing power is constitutional is to hold that the Constitution may contradict the Declaration. Such a position denies that the Declaration is legally relevant to the founding of America and its legal context, as well as denying the Declaration’s understanding of equality."
"The preceding discussion of biblical principles does not exhaustively describe the rules of biblical law affecting taxation, but includes those rules of primary significance for the applications made herein. Before proceeding with a discussion of the primary constitutional principles of taxation, it may be helpful to discuss the relation of biblical principles to taxation in ancient Israel as a means of exploring whether the latter adds anything to the application of biblical principles today."
https://lonang.com/commentaries/conlaw/taxation/biblical-and-constitutional-taxation/
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PermalinkMy concern about SAISD is less about their governance of finances and maintenance of buildings but more-so the content of their syllabus. There are too many fallacies surrounding the theory of evolution and the concept that the earth is millions of years old. If we send our children to learn from Caesar, we shouldn't be surprised when they come home Romans.
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