Brentwood Schools Look at Finances, Bond Issue a Possibility
A special committee will report to the board in January.
Photos
On the first day candidates for school boards can file to run in April, Brentwood incumbents Chris Jones and Regina Gahr arrived at the district office at 8 a.m.
Brentwood Superintendent of Schools David Faulkner caught up current school board president Jones on a new committee tasked to look at the district’s bugdet and consider long-term financing.
The district cut $739,000 from the budget in February to stay in the black.
Though the committee is scheduled to report to the board on Jan. 15, which would allow time for an April vote on a bond issue, Faulkner said the purpose is to look at the district’s finances and say, “where are we?
“(A bond issue) is not a forgone conclusion,” he said.
The committee of 18 consists of staff members and parents from every level. Only two non-resident staff members are on the committee.
Faulkner said he answered questions about the school tax rate at the first committee meeting, on Nov. 29, and they’ll have more for the next, on Dec. 13. Five meetings are scheduled before the committee gives its recommendations to the board.
Jones said 10 out of 10 area school board members would say finances are the top issue.
“It may be some time until those property values get back up, so it’s not just balancing this year’s budget, but making sure we’ve got reserves to cover us for the next five to 10 years,” he said.
Jones said they’re faced with at least having conversations about a bond issue.
“I think the last time we went out (for a tax levy proposal) was 2002, and we told the community that would be enough to last us five years, and it’s been now 10 years.” he said.
Gahr recognized finances are an issue, but said maintaining standards and making sure decisions benefit the children are her top priorities.
Also in Patch:
M. Grimes
10:21 am on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Bond issue's not gonna fly w/the voters anywhere right now. Someday that board is going to learn to stop living above their means. I think they have like 7k in their city, and have two elementary schools? Take a look at their fancy admin building... Ridiculous. Paid their last super some crazy $$ like $250k/yr...get a clue. Caught behind the 8 ball on tax rates and assessments? Whose fault is that? Prediction: consolidation is the only solution. No one will vote for new taxes.
Daphne Madras
6:50 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
I would vote for tax increase, my kids are enrolled in Brentwood schools, and I see firsthand all the cuts that have been made. Do I like taxes going up? No, not really. But guess what its reality. Have you been to our schools and seen what it is like to have cuts recently? I hope for the best education my children can get with adequate amount of teachers, supplies, and proper bulding maintanence. I hope it doesnt come down to higher taxes, but I would do anything for these kids. They are our future...or is that not important to you? I would not want the schools consolidated...where would we put two building worth of kids in one? Mcgrath can't do it, and neither can Mark Twain.
K
12:24 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Really Grimes? Where are the children going to consolidate to -- the hallways at McGrath? It is simple math, property tax values fall, revenues decrease proportionately. Living within your means is one thing when your income doesn't change --- in this case it has pretty dramatically. Property tax rates in Brentwood are still much lower than Clayton and other surrounding school districts.
M. Grimes
1:44 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Yes, really. Watch the consolidation happen. It will. Enrollment does not sustain. Your super icorrectly pointed the follwing out in his past article; Please show me the other school districts that were "caught" by surprise on this. Give me a break:
"Also in 2009, a flaw in the legislation required the tax rates to be set by September 1 instead of October 1. The tax rates were set too low because the preliminary assessed property valuation was too high. The district lost more than $1 million of revenue in one year. Because that was not the fault of the district, the district has been allowed to recover those funds."
Then, he says this:
"He added that schools get nothing from TIF properties. When homes are removed for a TIF development, it removes tax revenue from the houses, which are replaced by a TIF that pays no school taxes. When that happens more of the burden is shifted to the remaining houses."
Your super doesn;'t have a clue how incentive financing works. And, how much are you paying this guy???
Mr. Completely
1:59 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Here’s my suggestion: 1st Seemayer isn’t using his credit card anymore, give it to BSD. 2nd Install red light cameras in the hallways of the schools, give all the students tickets. 3rd Have a golf tournament, give the losses to the district for a write off. 4th Give the district their own Tiff so they cannot pay themselves any taxes. Sounds like that should work.
TOOWARM
3:54 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
In case anyone hadn't noticed , the School Board did raise our tax rate by 10% on our last bill. My assessment is down, BUT my bill amount from the School District has actually gone up by $100. The School Board has been steadily raising our rates... no mention of that fact in their poor is us articles. "K" will be happy to know that our property tax rates are only about 4 cents lower than Clayton's with the last increase. We should be proud we are almost as good as Clayton now....
Ed
9:43 am on Thursday, December 13, 2012
Consolidation isn't the answer - we would need a bond issue to build a building large enough to consolidate both elementary schools - there probably isn't an appetite for a new building. And NO WAY should we consider consolidating with another district... I don't want to lose the character and quality of the education our kids are getting. So I will vote to support our school district.