Chaffee residents to vote on school bond issue Aug. 5

An impending cut in state funding has prompted Chaffee School District officials to seek additional money through a bond issue.

The school board recently approved placing a $500,000 general bond issue before voters during an Aug. 5 special election.

The bond issue would allow the district to pay off a lease-purchase agreement made in 1997 for renovations and additions to the high school.

This year alone, the lease-purchase debt amounted to $114,000, paid from the district's general operating fund. Superintendent Dr. Arnold Bell said he expects to save as much as $60,000 in interest over the life of the lease purchase, which is set to expire in 2011, by paying it off now.

The $500,000 bond issue will be applied to the debt service, which is paid for through local property tax dollars. No new taxes would be necessary under this plan, Bell said, but it would extend the current debt service's life span by one year, from 2014 to 2015.

"The key is, there would be no new taxes and it frees up operating money we need right now," Bell said.

It's just one several cost-saving moves Chaffee, and districts around the state, are making in the wake of severe state budget cuts.

Already, the district has released six certified and four noncertified staff members for next year and decreased expenditures in order to balance next year's budget, Bell said.

A public hearing on the issue will be scheduled at a later date.