(Spirit Lake)– A facilities improvement plan for the Spirit Lake Community Schools is a step closer to going before the voters in a bond referendum in November. The School Board voted 5-0 Wednesday evening to call for a petition with at least 150 votes on it calling for the referendum. They have a little less than a week, until August 26th, to get the needed signatures turned into the County Auditor’s Office.
The final amount of the proposal is $69.9 million. School officials say that includes ALL costs, including construction, engineering, and architectural fees along with contingencies. As we’ve reported previously it includes the elementary, middle and high school along with new turf for the football field, new lights for the football, baseball and softball fields, and an additional bus barn. A field house or athletic bubble that was proposed earlier has been dropped from the plans.
School Board President Jeremy says he was pleased with the turnout and the input the board received during tours and a question and answer session the board also held Wednesday…
Mouw adds he’s confident the board has done its due diligence during the three years of coming up with a plan…
Superintendent Dr. David Smith urges those who have not yet toured the facilities, to do so. He says while the action taken by the board was significant, a lot of work lies ahead in what will be a pretty compressed time frame…
The school board will hold another special meeting within the next week once the needed signatures are gathered, at which time they will formally consider a resolution with the language that would be included with the referendum November 3rd.
The Spirit Lake School District’s Financial Consultant, Tim Oswald of Piper Sandler, addressed impacts on property taxpayers should voters approve a $69.9 million bond issue…
Oswald says the levy rate in the Spirit Lake School District would still compare very favorably with neighboring districts even if the referendum would pass…
Oswald says that’s due to the district’s high property values. He expects those numbers will only continue to grow in coming years.
