$6.2M bond issue question heads to WL school board

General obligation bond proposal, aimed at school maintenance issues, faces questions from part of the school board. Monday public hearing set.

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$6.2M BOND ISSUE QUESTION HEADS TO WL SCHOOL BOARD

In a full slate going on Monday evening in West Lafayette – including the city’s public input session about its Public Safety Center plans (6-8 p.m. at city hall) and a campaign stop/town hall for Jennifer McCormick, Democratic candidate for governor (6:30 p.m., West Lafayette Public Library) – West Lafayette school board will hold a preliminary public hearing on a bond issue to deal with a list of maintenance issues in the district.

The West Side school administration has proposed a $6.2 million general obligation bond that could be used on what it considers high maintenance priorities. Among them: roofing at the high school, HVAC work at the high school and West Lafayette Elementary, bus replacement and tennis court replacement on the elementary school campus.

(Check the full list below.)

During a school board work session in August, Lindsay Simonetto, with financial consultants Baker Tilly, told members that the district had room to bond up to $8.4 million. Including using $2.8 million remaining in money from a 2017 bond issue – the first of four the district is paying off for construction projects – the proposed $6.2 million general obligation bond issue would be paid off over six years, she said.

(Photo: Dave Bangert)

According to a report from Simonetto, the bond issue would return the district’s debt service property tax rate from 0.4909 to 0.5375, where it had been for several years before 2024. That’s 4.66 cents more per $100 in net assessed value. For a house with a market value of $308,100 – the median in West Lafayette Community School Corp., according to U.S. Census Bureau figures – and a net assessed value of $169,065, that would mean an increase of $78.78 a year, according to Simonetto’s report.

Beyond Monday’s hearing, a school board vote is scheduled for Oct. 7.

Shawn Greiner, West Lafayette superintendent, said general obligation bonds were common practice when he worked in other districts. (Side note: Lafayette and Tippecanoe school corporations also are considering general obligation bonds this year, as well.)

The plan didn’t have total buy-in during an August work session.