HERMANN – Voters in the Gasconade County R-1 School District will be asked in April to approve a $5-million bond issue for capital improvements and the transfer of 30 cents from the Debt Service Fund to the Operating Fund to primarily provide money for increased teacher pay.

The decision to place the items on the April 2 General Municipal Elections ballot was made during a 7 a.m. special session of the board — one day earlier than the directors’ regularly scheduled monthly meeting Thursday night. It’s unclear why the board felt the need to act on the ballot issues a day ahead of its regularly scheduled meeting. When asked before the start of the Thursday night regular session about the apparent urgency, Board President Dot Schoening told the Gasconade County Republican that notice of the early-morning meeting was posted properly according to the Missouri Open Meetings Law and that early-morning sessions have been held before. She also noted the district faced an fast-approaching deadline to provide documentation about the ballot issue decisions to the four counties that contain a portion of the R-1 District.

Local government entities, such as R-1, faced a Jan. 23 deadline to inform the county clerks of Gasconade, Franklin, Montgomery and Warren counties of its action in order to be placed on those counties’ April 2 ballots. It has been reported earlier, as outlined during the December board session, that the R-1 directors were planning to act on the proposed ballot issues at the Jan. 18 session, which was held a week later than normally because of a delay that allowed district officials to attend the Hermann Area Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet on Thursday, Jan. 11.

The bond issue faces a four-sevenths majority for passage (57.14 percent) while the proposed levy transfer requires only a simple majority for approval.

Here is the ballot language — drafted by district bond counsel LJ Hart — that was approved at the special session of the board:

Proposition I: “Shall the Board of Education of Gasconade County R-1 School District, Missouri, borrow money in the amount of $5 million for the purpose of providing funds for the site development, construction, equipping, and furnishing of an Agriculture Shop expansion; to complete energy efficiency upgrades; to remodel Elementary School classrooms and the High School auditorium; to the extent funds are available, complete other repairs and improvements to the existing facilities of the District; and issue general obligation bonds for the payment thereof? If this proposition is approved, the adjusted debt service levy of the School District is estimated to remain at $0.9030 per one hundred dollars assessed valuation of real and personal property.

“If this proposition and Proposition N are both approved, the adjusted debt service levy of the School District is estimated to decrease by $0.3000 from $0.9030, currently, to $0.6030 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation of real and personal property.”

Proposition N: “Shall the Board of Education of the Gasconade County R-1 School District, Missouri, be authorized to increase the operating tax levy by $0.3000 to $3.6861 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation for the purposes of attracting and retaining quality certified teachers and support staff, maintaining facilities, and meeting operating expenses?

“If this proposition is approved, the adjusted operating tax levy of the District is estimated to increase by $0.3000 from $3.3861, currently, to $3.6861 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation for the 2024 Tax Year and can be applied to the assessed valuation for each year thereafter. The District intends to reduce the debt service levy by $0.3000 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation in order to offset the estimated $0.3000 increase to the operating levy if this proposition is approved by the voters, resulting in the total tax levy of the District to remain unchanged.”

On a related noted, advocates of the ballot issues have gone from referring to a “no-tax-increase” bond issue to a “no-tax-change” bond issue, a possible recognition of the criticism voiced by some in the Hermann community that without a new bond issue approval, the district’s debt service levy would be reduced as bonds previously issued by the district are paid off.