There will be a Bernalillo Municipal School District (BMSD) and Bond Election on Tuesday, February 5, 2013. It will include 3 ballot items: 1) Election of 2 school board members, 2) A ballot measure for a 2.0 mill property tax for capital improvements, and 3) A ballot measure to issue general obligation bonds not to exceed $20 million, which would largely go to construction and maintenance of schools in the district. The BMSD includes Bernalillo, Algodones and Placitas, as well as more outlying areas such as Cochiti and Pena Blanca, and the nearby pueblos. The Placitas Elementary School is part of BMSD. These ballot measures, if passed, would affect property taxes in all these areas subject to property tax.
Our property tax bills presently include 3 items for BMSD: 1) 9.471 mill for debt service, 2) 2.0 mill for capital improvements, and 3) 0.169 mill for operations. For most property owners in Placitas this accounts for over 40% of their total property taxes. According to officials with BMSD, the ballot measure for 2.0 mill would replace the present 2.0 mill tax, which expires next year, thus leaving that particular tax unaltered. Also, if the $20 million bond measure passes then this would not significantly change the 9.471 mill tax. We do not yet have precise information how that tax rate would be affected if the bond measure were voted down.
According to a brochure published by Bernalillo Public Schools, the 2.0 mill levy is intended to generate approximately $6.8 million, to be used to maintain and improve buildings, and purchase equipment.
According to this brochure, the $20 million bond is intended to be applied to a number of projects, including:
- Construction and renovation for Bernalillo High School
- Construction and renovation for Santo Domingo School
- Continued technology upgrades district-wide
- Roofing repairs district-wide
- Athletic field upgrades district-wide
- Cochiti gymnasium
There is already an agreement between BMSD and the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority (NMPSFA) that they would share close to equally in the funding of the Bernalillo High School and Santo Domingo School construction and renovation. Both are expected to involve extensive renovation of existing buildings and possibly the construction of some new structures. If the $20 million bond measure were to fail these projects would probably not go forward at this time. This $20 million might not fully pay the BMSD portion of these projects, so a further bond measure in 2016 might be required.
Among the voting locations will be the Bernalillo Auxiliary Gym for residents of Bernalillo, the Placitas Elementary School for residents of Placitas, Pena Blanca Community Center, Cochiti Lake Fire/EMS, and Community Centers on the pueblos. Absentee voting will also be conducted in the Sandoval County Clerk’s office.
Materials from BMSD related to this election can be found here and here.
I wonder why this issue is not listed on the ES-CA Homepage as a Current Issue (along with other timely items such as the Cashwell rezoning, property tax errors, and redistricting.) This seems to be a very current issue that will affect everyone’s tax rates, and ES-CA members and other citizens need the kind of information that ES-CA was founded to provide. School bond elections are historically marked by low turnout and are overwhelmingly approved because they are supported and advertised by people who directly benefit from the increased tax revenues (e.g., contractors, bond salesmen, architects, school employees, etc.) ES-CA could provide its members good service by fleshing out the economic and other issues related to this bond election, broadcasting opinions and factual information widely, and encouraging its members to get out and vote.
JD, Good idea. Because we have changes in our IT committee it might take a little time to get this up on the homepage. But I’ll request that it be done. Also this information should appear in the coming Signpost issue, with a link to this ES-CA Forum article, so hopefully we can have the necessary discussion here.
Just one comment. If the money is put to uses that improve the education of the students, then those who directly benefit from the increased tax revenues are also the students, their families, and all of us in the community who benefit from our young people being better educated. The question as I see it is whether the money that property owners would pay if either or both of these ballot measures pass will significantly improve education.