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The West Branch Local School District will have a 1-mill additional levy for permanent improvements on the Nov. 3 ballot to raise $441,474 annually for five years.
The levy will cost $35 a year per $100,000 property value.
West Branch Superintendent Matthew Manley said the levy funds would help with safety issues and upgrades.
"The top projects are: a fire suppression system, new PA systems (because the present one is dying), safety lanyards for staff for immediate help, security cameras (they need upgraded after 25 years), and repaving of lots and school roadways," Manley said. "The district cannot address every need in five years, so these projects will be completed in priority order.”
The first and most important project according to Manley and the district's website is fire suppression. The project involves upgrading the system with a water booster station and pump.
Besides the five listed priorities, the district’s list of needs includes classroom painting, fire pumps, carpet replacement, classroom furniture, kitchen refrigeration, bus replacement, annual computer replacement and English/language arts materials for grades 6-12.
The website notes, "The need to maintain district facilities will not go away. Without a dedicated Permanent Improvement fund, repair and replacement costs must be paid from the district's general operating fund, where they compete with classroom instruction, educational programs and student resources. Delaying major maintenance projects also increases costs over time."
Some residents have questioned how West Branch's needs have come to be. Manley offered an explanation.
"In 2000, the bond issue passed for new buildings," he said. "The first new building opened Dec. 7, 2003. We paid off the bond five years early. With the state program, half a mill of the levy was for Permanent Improvement. Since the levy is paid off, we no longer have our PI fund."
The construction bonds were issued in 2001, and the district refinanced in 2007 and again in 2017 at a lower rate, reducing interest costs. The 30-year bonds were retired in fiscal year 2024, which was five years ahead of schedule.
The required 0.5-mill maintenance levy expired at the same time as the bond retirement, and the school tax rate is now at its lowest level since the construction project began.
According to the website, those new buildings are now more than 20 years old and in need of the kind of major-system maintenance any building of that age requires, thus the need for the 1-mill permanent improvement levy.
Manley said the 1-mill permanent improvement levy is for five years. He wanted to be clear it is not a permanent levy, but only for permanent improvements. He said it can't be used for staff salaries or daily operations.