After numerous conversations, community surveys and budget meetings, the Durango School District 9-R school board voted unanimously Tuesday to take a $1.7 million tax increase to the voters in November.
“You decided you’d want the ballot language finalized by the end of June,” 9-R Superintendent Dan Snowberger said. “Once that’s decided, you’ll need a grass-roots campaign group because the staff and you (the board) will only be able to talk about the fiscal situation and how we’d be using the money. We wouldn’t be able to campaign.”
The increase, which would amount to $40 additional property tax on a $400,000 home, would be added to tax bills in 2017. The board is still deciding how extra funds would be allocated, but safety and academic achievement are two possibilities.
The district’s budget has been hit hard by the results of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which restricts funds available to the state from taxes to inflation plus population growth, meaning the funding has not recovered to pre-recession levels.
Two different surveys showed that more than 75 percent of those who responded would either actively support and vote for the mill levy or at least vote for it, but the public would still need a lot of information, board Vice President Nancy Stubbs said.
The board also unanimously authorized the district to sign a loan agreement with the Bank of the San Juans for $1.9 million to renovate the Durango High School stadium and the track at Escalante Middle School. The loan, selected for the best terms out of six proposals from local banks, will be for 10 years at an interest rate of 2.05 percent.
Annual payments would be about $220,000, Snowberger said.
“I did take this to the Finance Advisory Committee,” he said, “and we asked the people associated with the bank to step out. The committee felt the 10-year term was appropriate. And they believe the district is responsible for making sure the facilities are safe.”
One reason fundraising has been slow is that DHS Activities and Athletics Director Dave Preszler, who heads up the stadium fundraising committee, has been busy running winter and spring sports, Snowberger said after board members questioned the success of the fundraising to date.
“There’s a lot of passion in that room,” said board member Matt Sheldon, who is the board’s liaison to the committee. “They really care about the project. It’s just been a matter of time, and Dave will have more time after the new director is hired.”
Sheldon thinks $220,000 annually is doable.
“Small donors are going to be extremely important,” he said. “Safety is important to appeal to them, but what’s really important is how many students will benefit from it.”
abutler@durangoherald.com
