The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board held a two-hour discussion on a November funding referendum Friday morning (7.17), and appeared to be moving toward a consensus of asking voters for a 20 cent extra tax rate (per $100 of assessed valuation) which would be 10 cents more than the current referendum rate due to expire next year.

After a lengthy discussion, the board began moving toward supporting a referendum rate closest to Option 3 provided by Superintendent Allen Bourff in a recommendation provided to the board on July 13th.  You can view all three options, including option 3, at this link.

Bourff’s Option 3 calls for a referendum tax rate of 21.33 cents, 11.33 cents above the current additional rate of the previous operating referendum.  Board members began expressing a desire to adopt most of the recommendations of Option 3 at a slightly lower 20 cent rate.  HSE’s Chief Financial Officer Mike Reuter said the difference between the 21.3 cent rate and 20 cents is about $600,000 to $700,000 a year.

The board is scheduled to make a final decision on the requested referendum rate at a meeting July 21st at 7:30am.  Superintendent Bourff says he will have a recommendation to the board on how the school system would plan to spend the additional money provided by a 20 cent referendum rate at the July 21st session.

The board also will need to submit precise language to appear on the ballot on election day November 3rd.  Attorney David Day cautioned the board there is little time to negotiate over the language, since the deadline for submitting the referendum wording is fast approaching, so he recommended the board approve language likely to pass through the process quickly.

The board’s move toward a 20 cent referendum rate was partly due to a community survey conducted by a local firm, Practical Insights, which showed a great deal of voter support in additional money for local schools aimed at spending on teacher compensation and class size.  You can read the results of the survey at this link.