By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A $20 million bond issue highlights the decisions facing St.
Joseph voters today.
Co-chair of Friends of the St. Joseph School District, Kevin
Kelly, says this is an important issue with a profound impact well beyond just
the dollar figure.
“Frankly and simply put, we are trying to reverse the course
of the St. Joseph School District to bring it more into a positive realm and
positive movement, because we have under-invested here in St. Joe for
generations and that’s not an exaggeration,” Kelly tells host Barry Birr on the
KFEQ Hotline.
It will take a 57% majority to approve the bond issue.
Kelly says failure to approve this bond issue diminishes the
district’s ability to borrow in the future.
“If this bond issue does not pass, we actually go backwards in
our capacity,” Kelly says. “And, again, not to get into the details, but the
capacity to spend, to improve the school district, is diminished.”
The St. Joseph School District has paid down enough debt to
borrow an additional $80 million without a tax increase. If a bond issue is not
approved, the school tax levy could drop and it would take a vote of the people
to raise it.
Friends co-chair, Melanie Barnes, points out the district can
issue the bonds without a tax increase, because of how well the district has
handled taxpayer dollars.
“We have got to get out of the mindset from the past and we
have got to put more trust into our administrators,” Barnes says. “They’ve done
a good job paying down the debt thus far and we’ve got to continue moving
forward.”
Barnes says it’s fiscally responsible to approve the bonds.
“If we don’t do this now and we realize in four years we need
to do it then, it’s only going to cost more,” Barnes says. “So, we’ve got to
take advantage now. We have waited too long and we have not invested in so many
years and it’s only going to cost more.”
Money will be spent to install turf fields at the high
schools, upgrade heating and cooling systems, install a district-wide intercom
system, build roads at Oak Grove and Carden Park elementary schools, upgrade
sidewalks, and expand Hosea Elementary school among other improvements.
The St. Joseph School District has a full list HERE.
St. Joseph voters will choose three school board members. Ten
names appear on the ballot, but candidate Steven Carillo has dropped out of the
race. St. Joseph School Board President LaTonya T. Williams and school board Vice
President Kenneth W. Reeder are running for re-election. Others on the ballot
include Warren H. Ingram III, Sean Connors, Ronda Chesney, Mike Moore, Jacob
McMillian, Kimberly Dragoo, and Tami L. Pasley.
The City of St. Joseph has placed seven charter changes on the
ballot, including a proposal to establish staggered city council member terms,
Proposition 1 on the ballot. Other charter changes would allow citizens to run
for only one city offices at a time (Proposition 2), require a two-thirds vote
of the city council to fire the city manager (Proposition 3), allow the city
council to modify city departments without a charter change (Proposition 4), to
move the Personnel Board and the Museum Oversight Board from the city charter
to the city code (Proposition 5), allow the city to broaden media outlets used
for official notices (Proposition 6), and establish a retirement age of 70 for
municipal judge (Proposition 7).
Question #1 on the ballot would decrease the tax levy for the Rolling
Hills Consolidated Library from 31 cents to 28 cents and remove the sunset
clause attached to 15 cents of the library levy.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.
