Rockwood Will Not Put Tax Levy on November Ballot

Rockwood School District taxpayers no longer have to consider whether to support a tax increase this year, because the district's board of education directors voted Thursday evening to not place a tax levy referendum on the Nov. 11 ballot.

Directors had to follow up on their vote from May 19 to let taxpayers decide the fate of a proposed tax increase as a way of making up the district's remaining budget shortfalls. Wording for the actual referendum, including the financial amount, was due by Aug. 31 for the fall ballot. Thursday became the deadline to decide the issue, unless the directors wanted to call a special meeting.

Board President Steve Smith said he did not believe they had "convinced a sizable (Rockwood) constituency that we’ve done all we can with the budget."

The only vote in favor of pursuing a November ballot issue was Peggy Devoy, who has served on the school board for the past five years.

Director Matthew Fitzpatrick was absent from Thursday's meeting, so he did not vote.

"It's a very difficult discussion to have," Director Matt Doell said. "In my mind, there's no doubt that we have to choose between two evils:  a tax increase or doing things to the district that no one wants to happen. Both are distasteful."

Doell said he believed the board and district administrators should look at expenses again, due to feedback he received from constituents.

"Many Rockwood residents don't understand fully why we believe this tax increase is needed. We should reconsider, not put this on the November ballot and get it more clear," Doell said.

Director and board vice president Janet Strate agreed with Doell.

"Regarding any of the choices, it's a difficult time. We need more information to really know how the overall district finances will work out," she said. "We should go through the budget one more time and uncover every stone."

That's where Devoy respectfully disagreed.

"Every single year, we have cut and cut and cut. Students are trying to map out their way about how they are going to proceed through high school. We owe it to our taxpayers to decide the type of district we want to have," Devoy said.

"We've spent a year on the budget. Those numbers aren’t going to get appreciably better. I don’t think some windfall from the state is ever coming."

Smith said postponing the tax levy referendum until the April ballot did not provide much more time to know what Missouri legislators and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) would do with education-related funding and resulting equations they use to decide the proportion that Missouri's 524 districts will receive.

"I'm more concerned about cuts already made," he said. "Curriculum needs to be developed. Putting the issue on the November ballot and failing does no good. We need to take one more shot at it. We face a bunch of distasteful things on the FY13 cut list."

District spokespeople have indicated the costs of participating in a November ballot is estimated at $150,000, compared to the $35,000 cost of participating in April ballots.

Prior to hearing public comment on many occasions—including Thursday evening—and having voluminous budget discussions, the directors also were informed by consultants about the public's present perception of the district's financial challenges as well as their likely support of a tax increase.

"The odds are not with you at the moment for patrons' support for a tax increase," said UNICOM ARC market researcher Rod Wright.

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