CPSB talks bonds at meeting
Published 8:24 am Thursday, December 4, 2014
The Calcasieu Parish School Board held an informational meeting Wednesday at Sam Houston High School to discuss the District 27 bond election on Saturday’s ballot.
Voters in the Moss Bluff and Gillis areas will decide whether to approve the 20-year, $12.7 million bond that would pay for a new elementary school, which School Board officials say is needed because of overcrowding and expected continued growth.
The bond issue would be paid for through property taxes, which would be about 20 additional mills. Homeowners with property valued at $100,000 would pay just over $50 a year; property valued at $200,000 would cost taxpayers just over $250 a year.
Karl Bruchhaus, CPSB superintendent, said district 27’s current 1.5 percent sales tax, which was approved in 2000, is repaying the bonds issued for the construction of Moss Bluff Middle School. He said the sales tax, which expires in 2020, also contributes excess revenue to a capital improvement fund, which has paid for Moss Bluff and Gillis school improvements.
Several of those who attended the meeting were concerned about how the excess revenue money had been used and why it couldn’t be used to build a new school.
“There are projects ongoing with that extra money and have been all along such as improvements and renovations to libraries, science labs and sports fields,” Bruchhaus said. “The rules of that sales tax says it doesn’t matter how much money we are overcollecting, we can’t issue any more bonds with that money until it expires.”
Bruchhaus said if the new bond passes, only the people in Moss Bluff and Gillis will benefit because it is segregated money.
“It’s up to you whether you want it or don’t want it,” he said. “I know there’s concern about it. Taxes are not popular, but schools don’t pop up without it.”
Bruchhaus said if voters approve the bond, the new elementary school would be built on property already owned by the School Board near Moss Bluff Middle. If rejected, Bruchhaus said the board would need to explore options such as larger class sizes in existing facilities or adding temporary buildings at schools that have room for them.
