School Board Seeks Help From Local Taxpayers For Needed Safety & Deferred Maintenance
On March 29th the Cascade School Board held a special meeting to determine whether or not it would move forward with asking local taxpayers to authorize a Building Reserve Fund Levy. Items on this levy were prioritized as either safety concerns or deferred maintenance issues plaguing the school. The original list was to the tune of approximately 1.9 million dollars; however, the Board did not feel it could ask the local taxpayers for that much since our technology levy is still relatively new, and we still have five years before we pay off the debt service on the school addition and roof repairs.
The School Board spent nearly four hours with about 15 community members going over each and every line item on the list. The board listened to pros and cons about each of the items and weighed community input before determining which items would remain on the list. Items of highest priority that remained on the list were the school’s boilers and hot water system, sewage pipe replacement, replacement of single pane windows in the elementary and eastern walls of the school, adequate ground fill cover for the playground, aluminum bleachers for the football fields, demolition and capping of the portion of the tower where the brick is failing, and sanding of the new gym floor. These items came in at just over a million dollars collectively.
On May 3, 2016 the Cascade School Board will ask registered voters of the Cascade community to authorize two Building Reserve Fund Levies.
The first levy, if approved, will be assessed to the Cascade Elementary District No. 3 for $640,121. Passage of this proposal to authorize the building reserve fund levy will result in an annual tax of $29.14 on a home with an assessed market value of $100,000 and $58.28 on a home with an assessed market value of $200,000.
The second levy, if approved, will be assessed to the Cascade High School District No. B (this includes the Ulm community) for $426,747. Passage of this proposal to authorize the building reserve fund levy will result in an annual tax of $15.99 on a home with an assessed market value of $100,000 and $31.98 on a home with an assessed market value of $200,000.
If both levies are approved, the District will move forward and apply for an Intercap Loan. The Board wishes to go this route as it provides the lowest interest rate for the taxpaying citizens at 1.5%. Once approved, the District would have enough capital to complete all projects over the 2016 summer before students are back to school.
I will be holding several levy meetings over the course of the next month in Cascade, Ulm, and Deep Creek to inform members of the community as to what exactly our tax dollars will be going towards. I encourage you to join me if possible and ask any questions you may have. Times and dates are located under the calendar portion of the school website.
Yours In Education,
Justin Barnes
Cascade Superintendent
