School board wants special election from Commission

By Scott Wright

CENTRE —Superintendent of Schools Brian Johnson on Monday asked the Cherokee County Commission to call a special election he said will allow the Board of Education to raise millions for needed construction projects.

Johnson spoke to the commissioners on April 24 during a planning session held prior to the County Commission meeting. He said he and the members of the Board of Education believe they have discovered a way, without increasing taxes, to generate around $20 million for major structural improvements at every school in the county.

“A new middle school will cost in excess of $10 million to $12 million, gymnasiums run anywhere from $1.5 million to $2 million, and we have major needs at the other schools,” Johnson said. “We’re here to ask for a special election, sometime in August ... to ask the voters to renew the current millage rate and allow us to raise these funds.”

Johnson said he and the board members have been working for three years to try and figure out ways to come up with the millions the school system desperately needs.

“We’ve met with Rep. Richard Lindsey and his legislative staff in Montgomery, and with tax attorneys from Birmingham,” Johnson said. “We’ve been looking at the numbers, looking at our county, figuring out what we can do to generate this type of income.”

Johnson said the idea of a sales tax was discussed, especially in light of the success Etowah County has had with a similar measure. Over the past several years, virtually every K-12 educational facility in Etowah County, including athletic facilities, has been remodeled or replaced. Several schools, including Gaston High School near Leesburg, have been completely rebuilt.

“But those things are difficult, because you’re talking about a tax increase,” Johnson told the commissioners. "The way we can (raise the money) is with our millage."

Johnson said the ad valorem, or property, tax is based on the fair market value of property. The percentage is expressed as a mill levy, or millage rate, which is equal to one-thousandth of a dollar. Johnson said he and the board members found an extension of the current levy to be the most attractive method for generating the money the school system needs without raising taxes.

“We currently receive 22 mills and some of those start running out in 2009. What we would like to do, what we can do, is vote at one time to renew all of those and extend them for 30 years.”

The school system’s total current millage rate is generated from five separate tax levies passed by voters at different times dating back to 1981, when two were approved. Additional taxes were levied in 1983 (2) and 1989.

The total amount collected from all the taxes in Fiscal Year 2006 was nearly $4.1 million, according to documents provided by the Board of Education. But Johnson pointed out that nearly $2 million of that went directly into a fund that gets spread equally to school systems across the state.

Johnson explained that residents will eventually have to vote to renew all five resolutions, anyway. He said they are all set to expire between 2008 and 2010.

“We would not be asking for any additional money,” Johnson said. “All we want is to vote to extend these all at once, for 30 years. That guaranteed income would allow us to borrow what we need and still meet operating costs.”

Spending plan already in place

Johnson said a vote by the people of Cherokee County to extend the current property tax would allow for the replacement of Centre Middle School and construction of a new gymnasium at Sand Rock, as well as major improvement projects at all the county's remaining campuses.

“We can borrow up to 80 percent of what the vote would bring in, which would be about $25 million,” Johnson said. “But we’re not going to need that much and we obviously would not want to borrow any more than we need.”

Johnson said he and the board members would take it upon themselves to campaign for passage of the extension if the commissioners approve the special election.

“We would want to make sure the public knows that money from a local bond issue would not go for salaries, vehicles, transportation,” he said. “The existing taxes already pay for that. Any money we borrow would be for capital needs only.”

Johnson fielded several questions, including one from Commissioner Kimball Parker about how he would determine how the money would be split among the schools.

“We’ve recently had a facilities assessment and we’d like everyone to know what each school’s needs are,” Johnson said. “I don’t believe it was a surprise to anyone that our biggest need was found to be a new middle school in Centre, and Sand Rock is in need of a gymnasium."

Johnson said the assessment also found the need for stadium and gymnasium improvements at Cedar Bluff. He said Gaylesville is already adding some classrooms and will likely need a new gymnasium in the near future.

“Also, we’ve just built a new football stadium at Spring Garden, but we don’t have concession stand or a field house,” Johnson said. “Each school has needs and with this money we will be able to meet our schools’ capital needs.”

Johnson said if the state Legislature passes an $850 million capital improvements bond issue as expected, the school system may not even have to borrow the entire $20 million it could afford to repay.

“With that one-time money from the state, we're looking at only having to finance about $15 million,” he said. "If the voters approve the 30-year extension that would grant us the borrowing power we need."

Johnson said he realized the election would be expensive and encouraged commissioners to dig into the discretionary funds they typically forward to the schools to pay for ballots and other costs.

Commissioners took no action on the proposal Monday. Probate Judge and County Commission Chairman Melvyn Salter indicated the commissioners would likely vote on whether to hold the special election at the next meeting, scheduled for May 14 at 10 a.m. in the Cherokee County Administrative Building.

"We definitely need to know within the next two weeks," Johnson told the commissioners.