District preps for August tax election
Apr. 29—School board members came together on Monday to sign off on a measure that would tax about $7.1 million in new revenue per year for staff compensation, if voters approve.
The St. Joseph Board of Education voted 7-0 to embrace the idea, which would trigger an election on Aug. 6. Voters would be asked if they approve or reject a provision of law within the Missouri School and Highway Tax Proposition of 1982, commonly called Prop. C.
On Monday, Jacob McMillian, pastor of Journey Baptist Church and a St. Joseph School District parent who has volunteered for several district initiatives over the years, spoke to the board about the matter. If voters approve the measure, a roughly 6% across-the-board pay increase to staff might be possible. McMillian argued that an increase of more than 3% approved in March disproportionately benefited salaried employees.
"I spoke tonight in support of the support staff, your custodians, your secretaries, your nurses and librarians," he said. "I just want to make sure that when we take money from the community, that we're encouraging every employee, from the blue-collar workers, the secretaries, all the way up to (administrators). Let's take the $7 million and divide it by 1,700 (employees), giving everybody a flat-rate increase."
If most people vote "yes" on Aug. 6, the practical impact would be a 59-cent levy hike. The current levy is about $4.32 for every $100 in assessed value that exists in district boundaries. The wording of the question voters will ponder on Aug. 6, and how the $7.1 million in new revenue would be spent, will be decided by the board in May.
Prop. C. allows the voters of each school district to cancel the effects of Prop. C and raise taxes. Out of more than 500 districts statewide, only about 25 have thus far declined to waive Prop. C, including the SJSD. Voters in St. Joseph overwhelmingly rejected the idea in 2017. To try to help it pass this time, the Prop. C waiver ballot language will be crafted with inspiration from the Platte County R-III school district of Platte City, Missouri, which saw about 58% of its voters pass their waiver on April 2. The district will consult with L.J. Hart & Co. of St. Louis on the ballot question. Board members must approve a final ballot question before May 28 to qualify it for the Aug. 6 ballot.
Superintendent Gabe Edgar noted that even if a 6% across-the-board pay increase is enabled via voter approval of the Prop. C question on Aug. 6, the district will still not match some of its peers on the scale of teacher pay.
"Will it make us more competitive? Yes," Edgar told the board. "Will it put us above other districts from a recruitment perspective? No."
After talking with L.J. Hart & Co. representatives Monday, board members decided not to tack on any levy increases at this time to the Prop. C. waiver. Had an additional 10-cent levy hike been added to the waiver proposal, about $8.3 million in new revenue would have been generated. As a matter of comparison, Assistant Superintendent Robert Sigrist said, the pay increases approved in March cost the district about $4.9 million per year.
The district has said it anticipates a future of deficit spending to pay for the March increases. If voters approve the $7.1 million measure on Aug. 6, some of that could be used to refill the district's cash reserves, which will be tapped for as long as deficit spending occurs.
Marcus Clem can be reached at marcus.clem@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowClem
