R-5 voters to decide Prop 1 fate Tuesday

Voters in the Nevada R-5 School District will decide Tuesday on a proposed extension of the Proposition C rollback, first approved 10 years ago, but which sunsets this year.

Under Proposition C, half of a Missouri 1-cent sales tax now going to schools, is returned to the voters unless voters OK a waiver allowing districts to keep that funding.

In 1999 many other districts around the state passed similar waivers, but unlike the temporary waiver in the R-5 district, most of the others secured a permanent waiver.

A former R-5 School Board member, Dr. Warren Lovinger, who was on the board when the decision was made to include the sunset provision, stated that the board felt it best to try out the tax with the sunset provision.

"I'm just going from memory here, but as I recall, it was because it had not [been] approved before," Lovinger said. "The board felt it would be best to put a time limit on it so people could see that it was being used properly and would feel comfortable voting for it."

Voters also OK'd a property tax levy in 1999, which the district also hopes voters will continue. Both the Proposition C waiver and levy would remain the same as they are now, and both appear on the same ballot issue, called Proposition 1.

Nevada R-5 Superintendent Dr. David Stephens said the district wasn't seeking additional funds, merely a continuation of funds they already collect.

"We're not asking people to pay any more than they already are," Stephens said. "We're just asking them to maintain it where it is."

The sales tax is difficult to estimate since it depends on numerous variables, however, if a family spends $10,000 on taxable purchases it would cost $50 a year or approximately a dollar each week. The cost of the tax levy on a $100,000 home would be approximately $150 per year.

Several patrons have been critical of the fact the district started a new drug-testing policy and at the same time is requesting the funding stay at current levels.

"I'm glad you asked that question," Stephens said. "I've been asked the same thing by several people so I hope you can put the answer in bold type. The expense for the drug-testing policy comes out of federal funds that we are required to spend on safe and drug free school activities. Prop. 1 is local money and doesn't go to the drug testing policy at all."

Board member Mike McCaffree said that if Proposition 1 fails it would endanger the level of education Nevada students now receive.

"It's my understanding that this money is needed to keep the schools offering the level of service we're used to seeing from the district," McCaffree said. "We've got a school system recognized as one of the best. In my business you see people looking at that when thinking about moving to an area. If we want to continue with the level of education we're giving kids in Nevada we need to support this."

McCaffree's words were similar to school board vice president Chris Ellis, who said the board had worked hard over the course of several years of disappointing funding to anticipate future needs.

"We've looked far enough ahead so far that it doesn't hurt the kids, but something of this magnitude is going to have an impact," Ellis said. "If Prop 1 doesn't pass it will definitely impact some programs."

Stephens said the budget cuts announced by Gov. Jay Nixon Wednesday -- $204 million overall, with $19.5 million coming from elementary and secondary education -- would hurt, but the board used conservative figures to come up with the budget so the effect would be minimized.

"The only cut Nixon proposed that would affect us is in transportation," Stephens said. "We used last year's figures for revenue in the budget and that's about where the cuts will put us. We're going to feel a ding, but we anticipated and planned for that eventuality. We're still going to hurt, our revenue is the same as last year but our expenses are going up, with fuel costs the main reason."

The district currently has a hiring freeze in place, and hasn't filled some positions that "really ought to be." Some new hiring has taken place, but those are temporary positions in specialty areas that have received temporary stimulus funding through 2011. "Those people were told up front this is a temporary position" in special education and other specialized areas. The temporary help will enable permanent staffers to focus more on additional skills development.

Stephens noted that the state's funding formula also is fully funded for now, due to stimulus funding, but in two years that also will expire, and the state funding could be reduced as well.

Ellis said the board would likely revisit the issue in 2010 if the proposition failed to pass this November. Without approval of Proposition 1 in the Nov. 3 election, the waiver in place will expire Dec. 31, 2009.