BURTON SCHOOL BOARD PUTS BOND ISSUE ON NOV. BALLOT
The Burton School Board unanimously approved placing an 18 million dollar bond issue on a November ballot Monday evening. The ballot will be on a separate ballot from the General Election. It will be available at four polling places that the Burton ISD covers - Burton Community Center, Emmanuel Lutheran Church at Greenvine, Sons of Hermann Hall in Gay Hill, and St. John Lutheran Church of Prairie Hill.
The bonds are needed for an extensive campus improvement plan that includes additional classrooms, expanded science labs, increasing the cafeteria and kitchen space and a new band hall. A new high school competition gym is planned where the current football field is located and a new football field with an 8 lane track is proposed for the area north-west of the current field.
Burton Superintendent Dr. Edna Kennedy said that the improvements were needed to meet the expected growth in the district. Last month, the expected enrollment for the fall stood at 425. Last night, Dr. Kennedy said that that number has grown to 438 and the district continues to receive new enrollments. The proposed bond issue would require a 31 cent increase in the tax rate for the district. The average homeowner in the district with a home valued at 158 thousand dollars would see their taxes go up $494 per year beginning in 2017 if the bond issue passes. The next informational meeting on the school improvements and the bond issue is scheduled for 6:30 PM Thursday evening at the Burton Fire Station.
In other action, the board set the proposed budget and tax rate for the district. The proposed budget is 5 million, 110 thousand which represents a 4 percent increase over last year. Revenues to the district are expected to fall $259,000 short of the budget mainly do the drop in mineral values. County Tax Appraiser Willy Dilworth explained that gas production makes up most of the mineral income and that value has dropped from $140 million in 2010 to only $76 million this year. The shortfall in the budget is expected to be made up when the TEA adjusts their funding to the district to match the new enrollment.
The proposed tax rate was set at $1.182 per $100 valuation. That is up just over a penny from last year’s tax rate of $1.170. A public meeting has been set for Monday, August 29th at 6:30 PM for comments on both the proposed budget and tax rate.
The board also to time to recognize members of the Burton Panthers boys and girls track teams that competed in the State Track Meet this year. State Senator Lois Kolkhorst presented members of both teams with proclamations from the Texas Senate honoring their accomplishments. The Lady Panthers won the 1A Track State Championship this year even though they do not have a track to train on.
