PPEL vote highlights WACO school election

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

WAYLAND ? WACO doesn?t have any contested races on the Sept. 8 school election ballot. That, however, doesn?t mean that the vote isn?t important in the school district.

WACO School District residents will be voting on a 10-year, $1.34 per $1,000 taxable valuation physical plant and equipment levy (PPEL). The measure needs a simple majority, 50 percent plus one, for passage.

Talk of the PPEL vote first surfaced during a board meeting this spring when directors were discussing how to finance the school district?s solar power system.

Although money from PPEL won?t be used to pay for the solar system, it will allow the district to shift some expenses, currently borne by the school local option sales tax, to PPEL, freeing up funds for the solar system.

?This is a vital vote to the district,? said retired Superintendent Dr. Darrell Smith, who spearheaded the district?s move toward solar energy. ?This would allow us to shift some expenses to PPEL. You always want to reduce your expenditures so you can increase your spending authority and keep the doors open.?

Tim Graber, school board president, agrees with Smith. ?When we decided to put it on the ballot, the timing was good because the property tax levy was going down and we can move money around. I think it is a win-win situation because it helps the school district and doesn?t increase taxes.?

WACO?s solar energy system is currently up and running. The elementary school transition was done last spring and the high school went all solar just after school began.

Smith noted that in the last eight days, the system produced just over 17,000 kilowatt hours of power at the high school. ?That was just amazing, it was more than enough power to run the whole building,? he said.

The solar system will cost the district $850,000. Waco Solar LLC of Cedar Falls will finance the system and the district will pay $4,667 in monthly installments for six years. Following the six years of payments, the district can purchase the energy system for $514,000.

Graber, who has solar systems on his turkey farms, said that solar energy will save the district between $100,000-$120,000 in yearly energy costs, which are paid through the district?s general fund. ?It will save us money in the general fund and the general fund is the fund most school districts have a struggle with due to expenses.?

Smith said that approval of the PPEL will not increase the district?s current property tax levy of $16.03 per $1,000 taxable valuation.

?The no increase in the current school tax rate will be accomplished by reducing the debt service and management fund levies,? he explained.

For fiscal year 2016, the debt service levy is $3.11. In fiscal 2017, it will drop to $2.33, or a savings of 78 cents per $1,000 taxable valuation.

Meanwhile, the management fund levy for the current fiscal year is $1.07, but will only levy 50 cents in fiscal 2017. That means a total savings of $1.35 for fiscal 2017.

The total levy will drop even further in fiscal 2018 because the general obligation bonds to build the junior-senior high school will be paid, slicing the debt service levy to zero.

?It is quite possible that by fiscal 2018, the WACO property tax levy could be under $14,? Smith said. ?That?s quite a drop from over $20 a few years ago.?

Projected fiscal year 2017 property tax levy with the $1.34 PPEL is $16.06 per $1,000 taxable valuation while the fiscal year 2018 levy with the PPEL would be $13.73, according to Smith.

?This (PPEL) is something people need to approve because it helps the school district,? Smith remarked. ?Schools have to find ways to put less pressure on the general fund. The less money you spend, the more you have.?

Although if approved, the school board would have the authority to levy the full $1.34, the board can levy any amount not to exceed $1.34.

Smith said the full PPEL ($1.34) would generate $146,000 annually.

In the school board election, newcomer Brooke Carter is running unopposed for the District 1 seat, and Amy J. McLaughlin is seeking re-election without opposition to the District 3 slot. School board terms are for four years.

WACO District voters will cast ballots at the Wayland City Hall from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 8.