CR school bond backers must consider economic factors

(The editorial has been changed to clarify a new middle school is estimated to cost $104 million.)

The Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance commissioned a poll to gauge community support for Cedar Rapids school bond issue slated for the November ballot.

The current plan, which still is being crafted, includes an array of projects across the districts, with emphasis on middle school projects. There would be a new middle school on the northeast side, costing $104 million, another $59 million would be spent expanding and renovating the McKinley STEAM Academy and $26 million transformation and renovation costing $36 million.

The total price tag for bond projects is $211 million. That’s what district voters could find on their local general election. The economic alliance poll found 55% or respondents would “likely” or “definitely” support the bond issue. The trouble is the bond issue must have the support of 60% of the vote to pass.

Also, 61% of poll participants reported concerns about how inflation is or will affect their household finances, and 45% were unconvinced those circumstances will improve over the next year.

“The risk of running a bond issue and failing at this dollar amount will be a big setback for the district,” said Ron Corbett, the alliance’s vice president of economic development. “We thought this information would be valuable and give (the district) a chance to maybe pause and reconsider that dollar amount.”

We agree. It’s time to reconsider the plan.

We’d like to see the district improve its chances by making the plan’s price tag more palatable to voters. The district could, instead of asking once for $210 million, make two asks to the community to approve of bonded debt. That would slice the cost to taxpayers.

Passing of the bond in current form would mean the owner of a home with an assessed value of $200,000, the bond would result in an estimated monthly property tax increase of $15.45 or an annual increase of $185.40. Property taxes on ag land would increase annually by $3.41 per acre.

Poll respondents were most supportive of paying for projects that improve school safety and accessibility, with a respective 64% and 72.8% of respondents saying they would be more likely to vote “yes” on those components of the proposal.

Additionally, 61% expressed support for initiatives to address the 3,500 empty seats and the millions in operational expenses that could be saved by aligning district facilities to better meet current enrollment.

So, a fine-tuned, less expensive plan could involve those elements.

We understand the urgency behind numerous projects. We think the vote can go head in November as planned. There’s time to still get this right and be mindful of current economic jitters. Bond backers should continue to mobilize and raise money to support the bond, considering a bond vote is imminent.

We agree the district’s needs are real. And bond backers need to get real with voters to have any chance for victory.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com