Ellington

Jackson voters will have the chance to approve a $150 million bond this November when they go to the polls. It's the first of this size ever in Mississippi, but one that is needed, according to Jackson Public School Board President H. Ann Jones.

"We've got about 300 portables at different schools. We've got an elementary school, Wilkins, which was built for 200 students, but it's got about 600 students there. This means there are more students having classes in portables than inside the buildings, and there's only two bathrooms for those 600 students. You can imagine what would happen if we had a tornado," Jones said.

Jackson School Board members recently approved the bond election to build add-ons to seven schools, build two new schools and replace five others.

Expenditures will include a $4 million renovation for Barr Elementary; a $7 million renovation for Forest Hill; $5 million building additions to Casey, North Jackson, and McLeod Elementary Schools; and a $7 million addition to Wilkins Elementary School. Bigger costs include $18 million total school replacements for Blackburn and Peeples Middle Schools as well as a new north Jackson school and a new South Jackson school—both costing $18 million, and a second South Jackson school slated to cost about $10 million. Repairs and renovation are scheduled for many other pre-existing schools in the district.

The board said it put a high emphasis on two new schools in South Jackson because that district was the fastest growing in the city. North Jackson, meanwhile gets a new middle school to take some of the pressure of overcrowded Chastain, which has about 1,100 students. Council President Ben Allen, who represents Ward 1, has complained that his ward has needed a new school for decades. Currently only Chastain Middle School and Murrah High School serve the middle and high schoolers for that whole portion of the city.

The historic $150 million bond is actually a drop down from the price tag that came with the original recommendations of a multi-year study by MGT of America consulting group, based in Tallahassee, Fla.

"We looked at the total recommendations of the MGT people, which cost somewhere in the amount of $467 million. We asked the staff for suggestions and recommendations and one change they recommended was that the district renovate Barr Elementary instead of closing the school like the consultants recommended," Jones said. "There were just too many issues around closing that school and building another one. It was cheaper to renovate it, compared to getting the space to build the new school."

The referendum will occupy space on the November ballot, much like the referendum regarding voter approval for the self-taxation funding the Jackson Convention Center. Also, like that referendum vote, 60 percent of voters must approve it.

Approving it, however, means the district will sell 20-year bonds to pay for all the hammers and raise local taxes to pay off those bonds. Though calculations are preliminary, the board predicts that the 7-mill increase will cost the average homeowner with a $60,000 home an extra $46 to $48 a year. If that home price hits about $100,000, the mortgage taxes creeps up to around $75. The taxes would also hit city residents on their car tags, which Jacksonians already regard as expensive. A tag for a $20,000 car would cost about $10 more.

That money may have a smaller impact than expected, though, because residents are already paying for a similar JPS bond issue begun in 1995 to pay for school repairs. Residents will begin paying the new bond after the old bond is fully paid in 2007.

"They won't feel the $150 million, because the $50 million is already there that we're already paying," Jones said. "It'll be attached, but we won't actually see this until we pay taxes January 2008. That's when we'll see it on our tax bill."

John Lawrence, president of Downtown Jackson Partners and a JPS adviser, said city residents will probably foot the bill with few protests because of the high priority residents put on education. Lawrence added that many anti-tax personalities who align themselves with pro-business factions will likely see the worth in the bond as well.

"As someone who spends his day trying to talk people into moving to Jackson, when you're showing your community you have to show every aspect of it. I can show positive improvement in the schools on paper, but when somebody says, 'Show me their school,' we go in and see two classes being conducted in an auditorium that's got paint peeling off the walls. It gets real obvious real fast that you've got to do something," Lawrence said. "Aging infrastructure is a citywide problem with schools and sewers and other things. The most critical asset to our future is the success of our children. We've got to be able to see them grow in an environment that helps them succeed."

County Supervisor Charles Barbour is less enthusiastic. "If you build a $200,000 dentist's office in Jackson and one on the reservoir, the one in Jackson has taxes that are about double. So where are you going to build your dentist's office? Politicians need to remember that there's a business equation to taxes," Barbour said. "We need to be mindful that this tax will affect new construction for businesses and homes. Yes, Jackson needs quality education of young people. However, I encourage the school board to make decisions based on a business model on how to most efficiently utilize sparse government funds."

City Council President Allen, who usually opposes new taxes, said he already stood behind the bond issue, citing major needs in public schools with an emphasis on the large number of portable classrooms.

Nancy Loome, executive director of legislative watchdog group The Parents' Campaign, said anybody looking to vent irritation at the tax hike should aim their smoldering stares at the state and federal governments.

"We find ourselves in a situation where local districts are having to pass large bond issues because the state has not done its job to provide our children facilities that are conducive to learning. Local communities all over the state have had to increase taxes to cover insufficient funding on the state level," Loome said.

In November 2001, Rankin County voters passed a $69.35 million bond issue, while DeSoto County recently made runner-up in sheer magnitude to JPS's $150 million bond proposal by passing its own $115 million bond vote in 2004.

Gov. Haley Barbour, meanwhile, just bragged at the Neshoba County Fair that the state has pulled out of a $700 million hole and enjoys a $70-million surplus "without raising taxes." He doesn't mention that the Legislature had to swipe more than $200 million from state money pools like the tobacco trust and school building funds.

Also, even though the state enjoyed a blast of new tax money from all the new construction down on the Coast (plenty of it funded by federal tax money) the Mississippi Adequate Education Act was still underfunded by $150 million this past legislative session.

"That we're offering quality schools without raising taxes is simply not true," said Loome. "We are raising taxes. They're just getting pushed down to the local level with all these bond issues we have to pass. State lawmakers assume they're off the hook for that, but the reality is that it's raising taxes one way or another. Schools need to be funded without taking away money from their building fund or teacher supply money. Legislators need to come forward with that money in an honest way."

Previous Comments

ID

80358

Comment

I wonder how this will do on the ballot if Melton gets the tax hike he wants.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-08-10T00:39:11-06:00

ID

80359

Comment

“We looked at the total recommendations of the MGT people, which cost somewhere in the amount of $467 million. We asked the staff for suggestions and recommendations and one change they recommended was that the district renovate Barr Elementary instead of closing the school like the consultants recommended,” Jones said. “There were just too many issues around closing that school and building another one. It was cheaper to renovate it, compared to getting the space to build the new school.” I find it difficult to believe that the consultants didn't see and address the fact that it would be cheaper to renovate Barr rather than replacing it. They must have had some overriding reason to recommend the more expensive option, and this leaves me wondering what it was. Best, Tim

Author

Tim Kynerd

Date

2006-08-10T10:22:37-06:00