The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Joplin Metro

Discussion

March 22, 2008

Webb City to vote again on bond issue

By Joe Hadsall

jhadsall@joplinglobe.com

WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Webb City R-7 School District hopes that a different election date will produce a win for a bond issue.

The district is asking voters to approve the issuance of $5 million in bonds on April 8. The money would be used to build a new library and media center at Webb City High School.

One of the differences is that this year there is a more organized campaign to get enough votes.

“We are partnering with the campaign,” said Dixie Meredith, director of the Webb City Chamber of Commerce. “We’re organizing the effort to put up signs and get information out. It’s a more concerted effort.”

Superintendent Ron Lankford said in January that the district didn’t do a good job of communication in November. The district will be the host a forum at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Webb City High School to explain the bond issue and what it is aimed at accomplishing.

The library would have 8,000 to 10,000 square feet of floor space and would be attached to the high school’s west side, near a circular drive. The library would have a computer lab and other research tools.

Other construction projects included in the plan:

n Remodeling the high school’s classroom addition.

n Building four new classrooms and a multipurpose area at the junior high.

n Replacing windows at Webster Elementary and Franklin Early Childhood Center.

Any leftover bond money would be used to repair roofs at schools.

If the issue passes, the district would sell $5 million worth of bonds and pay off the debt over 20 years. Lankford said the district would pay off the debt via an extension of the debt-service levy at its current rate of 68 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

The Webb City School District’s total levy is $3.43 per $100 assessed valuation. It is composed of the 68 cents for debt service and $2.75 for operations.

The owner of a $100,000 home pays $651.70 in annual school taxes at the current rate.

The proposal is identical to one that failed on Nov. 6. People who voted against it in November said they disapproved of the plan and that taxes were already too high.

“All they are doing is keeping us in debt,” Kenny Collins said in November. “I’m tired of paying more and more school taxes.”

Proponents say the library is needed, and that the school district has a history of maintaining buildings well.

“We always support our schools,” Meredith said. “They have been recognized as one of the outstanding districts in the state, and they have a good record of keeping up with our dramatic growth.”

About 60.9 percent of voters cast ballots in favor of the issue in November, but that was not enough. Because of the timing of the election, the measure needed a two-thirds majority for passage, according to the Missouri Constitution.

This time, the district will need only a four-sevenths, or 57.1 percent, majority for approval, because the election will be held during April municipal and school elections.

If approved, the library and new classrooms would be ready for use by the 2009-10 school year, Lankford said.

“We’d like to go out for bids somewhere around June, and do some site work during the summer months,” Lankford said. “This is not a highly complicated building, so we would like to see it built in a nine-month period.”



No school board races

Only three people — incumbents David Collard, Jeanne Newby and Will Roderique — filed for three open seats on the Webb City R-7 Board of Education. Those three will each serve another three-year term.

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