Article by Madeline Pyle
In a meeting today, the Batesville School Board officially voted to set the date of the election for the bond issue that would finance new classroom space and security for the school district. Election date is April 14, 2020.
If the bond issue passes, the new tax rate would be 47.2 mills. The current rate is 38.75 mills.
“Mills are a quirky thing. One single mill is worth more or less in different areas depending on the property values and what a mill is worth,” Drew Sandage, assistant superintendent, said today. “Other places may have the same or lower millage rate but in those places, mills can be worth double what Batesville’s are.”
The bond specifically requests a new construction bond of approximately $49 million and a refinancing of a 2015 bond worth approximately $20 million, resulting in a total request of $71,290,000.
Marshall Hughes from First Security Beardsley, the financial advisory firm for Arkansas Public Schools, advised the board that by refinancing, they are saving $1,000,000.
If the bond passes, the district could access the funds as early as June 2020.
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