Wed, Nov 19 2008
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Published November 24, 2007 05:38 pm - GRANBY, Mo. — East Newton school officials will ponder their next move Monday night after a survey showed many residents supported construction of a new school building but were reluctant to pass a tax increase to fund the work. Respondents support new building, not new taxes By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com GRANBY, Mo. — East Newton school officials will ponder their next move Monday night after a survey showed many residents supported construction of a new school building but were reluctant to pass a tax increase to fund the work. “It came out basically that people want a new building but don’t want any tax increases,” said Superintendent Tanya Vest. “We were somewhat surprised,” she said of the results. The school district sent out a total of 3,300 surveys to residents in the district asking them to rank five different building proposals aimed at relieving overcrowding. It received a total of 376 back, for a response rate of almost 11.4 percent. The results were first reviewed by members of a building committee before they were presented to the school board on Nov. 19. Of the five proposals, the plan to erect a new high school on the current property and relocate grades six through eight to the current high-school building emerged as the favorite with a total of 121 first-place votes. That plan’s estimated price tag would be about $14.4 million. A proposal calling for additions to all three of the school district’s current buildings came in second with 69 first-place votes. That project would cost a total of about $6.3 million. Residents also were asked to indicate whether they would back a tax increase to pay for the work and, if so, whether they would prefer a bond issue with an accompanying debt-service levy or just an increase in the operating levy with a sunset clause. That question drew mixed responses. A total of 123 respondents said they would not support any tax increase at all, while 158 stated they would support a bond measure, Only 57 stated they would support a levy increase with a sunset clause. A bond issue would require a two-thirds or four-sevenths majority for passage, depending on the date of the election. A straightforward tax increase would only need a majority. No decision has been made yet about how to proceed, Vest said. The levy rate for the district, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, is $3.375 per $100 assessed valuation. For a $50,000 house, that translates into an annual tax burden of about $321, according the example used by the school district in the survey. 
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