Editor's Note -- The Sheridan Express welcomes letters both for and against the bond issue. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Sheridan Express, the board of directors, or the cooperative members. Send letters to Sheridan Express, 205 N. 4th Street #8, Sheridan, MO 64486 or email us at express@grm.net
My name is Jermie Bix. I am a lifelong farmer in the district and have been a member of the North Nodaway school board for the past nine years. These are my opinions as a taxpayer, and I do not speak for any other board member. I encourage you to vote NO against Proposition PFK on April 5th.
Due to the windmill project west of Hopkins, our district is currently receiving $665,000 a year for the next 18 years, totaling to approximately 12 million dollars. This is new money and not part of our original budget for the school district.
The bond extension is for $2.65 million, and we will be paying this tax of $.59 on every $100 of the assessed property value of our possession for the next 20 years.
In the past, our school has had many bonds, Bonds are not meant to be a forever tax, rather, they are passed with the idea that after their required time frame, the increased tax burden from the bonds will go away as they expire. Often, nearing the time of expiration, the district will fund new expenses that are often needed for our schools so bond renewals or extensions will be proposed.
However, this time, we are in a unique situation. The current bond is due to expire, which will give you, a taxpayer, a reduction of that $.59 valuation on every $100 of your assessed property while at the same time, not hurting the school budget. This reduction will be more than compensated with the additional $665,000 annual revenue from the windmill project funding.
As long as we spend wisely, there is no reason we can't do whatever we need to do for our school facilities and students. I am not against making improvements to our school facilities or doing other projects to make our school better for our students. I just feel we should be able to do these projects with the $12 million that is being added to our budget from the outside windmill source without continuing the tax burden on our community.
Our school is in a good financial state to manage future projects and improvements, having almost $1.8 million in reserve and this amount continuing to grow. For projects such as a new preschool building, utilizing a portion of our reserve, coupled with windmill funding over the next couple of years, would allow us to easily meet our expenses without taxing our community. It seems very irresponsible to me to ask our community for $2.65 million when we will receive 5 times that from the windmill project.
In the perspective of a timeline, 20 years is a vast amount of time not to voice your opinion to continue with the bond or not. If Proposition PFK passes, that is exactly how long the tax burden will continue before you have the opportunity to vote yes or no again.
I encourage each of you to review Proposition PFK and understand that you have the opportunity to say NO to continued bond taxing when it is not needed to support our school district. Vote NO for Proposition PFK.
Jerime Bix
Hopkins, MO
