Washington school bond election set for Sept. 14

The Washington school board unanimously approved a bond petition with more than 240 signatures at its regular meeting Wednesday night, setting the stage for a bond election on Sept. 14.

Superintendent Willie Stone said the election, which would authorize the district to contract debts and issue bonds for up to $25 million at a bond rate of $2.70, was essential to the middle school project and high school additions.

“I have offered to meet with anyone who wants to know more about the project,” Stone said. “I would love to be able to say, ‘This is what we’re doing, this is how we’re doing it without raising taxes.’ We’re going to be able to provide a great place for our kids and really take care of a lot of our needs.”

Stone said at a previous meeting that the district would not carry out the projects if the bond issue failed in the election.

“If we do not pass a bond issue we will not be building, period,” he said. “There’s no financial way for us to do it.”

With the proposal holding taxes at their existing rates, the district has signaled extreme unwillingness to raise taxes, even if it means cutting back project plans.

“If evaluations go down in the next two years, which would be extremely unlikely, we would just trim the project back a little bit,” Business Manager Jeff Dieleman said in June. “We are not going over that amount. The board and the administration do not want to raise taxes … we really want to stick to that.”