(Spirit Lake)– Planning for a new auditorium and additional gym at the high school took on a renewed vigor at Monday’s Spirit Lake school board meeting.
The board met with the district’s Financial Consultant, Tim Oswald of U-S Bancorp Piper Jaffray to talk about ways to match any private donations or grant money that might be received for the project. Oswald says one way the district could come up with funds is to issue what’s known as “bond anticipation notes”. Based on current projections, Oswald says the district would need to issue about 5.3 million dollars in the notes, which essentially would be a loan against the extended local option sales tax. There’s a catch, though. A glitch in Iowa law prevents schools from levying the extended tax. He says a bill will be introduced in the upcoming legislative session that if approved, would allow schools to levy against the extended tax. If that bill should fail, Oswald says the district would have to look at other alternatives if it’s to carry out the construction any time soon. He says those could include a full-fledged bond issue or a voter-approved physical plant and equipment levy.
