Maple River District to ask again for a new school

MAPLETON, Minn. -- Leaders of Maple River Public Schools hope a new tax credit will make their citizens more willing to support a tax increase to build a new school for their students.

The Maple River School Board voted unanimously Monday to hold a bond referendum Nov. 7. The district is asking for voters to approve $54.8 million in local property tax funding to consolidate its four buildings into one new school.

The district would issue bonds to pay for the new school and repay the debt over 30 years using proceeds of an annual property tax increase.

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Cities, counties, school districts and the state would be allowed to enter into public-private partnerships to upgrade energy services under a bill winding its way through the Washington Legislature.

The new school would house preschoolers through 12th-graders and would be built at the corner of County Road 7 and Borchert Street in Mapleton.

A request to construct a new school failed in 2015, with 69 percent of voters in opposition.

Superintendent Dan Anderson said district leaders have decided to ask again because legislators last session approved a tax credit for farmers.

For most school district tax levies, farmers are taxed only on their homestead and not on their agricultural land. For bond levies that fund school building projects, farmers are taxed on all of their land. In agricultural areas, that puts a large portion of the cost of a new school on farmers.

Now farmers receive a 40 percent reduction on their tax assessments for school buildings. State general fund dollars are being used to provide the tax credits.

"The 40 percent tax credit really changes the financial picture for our community," Anderson said.

With the new credit, non-homesteaded agricultural property would be assessed $9.42 an acre per year to help fund Maple River's new school. Farmers with a homestead would be taxed at the same rate as residential properties for their homestead plus $4.41 per acre of agricultural land, assuming a $7,500 per acre land value.

The new levy would cost the owner of a $250,000 home an average of $492 per year, according to calculations from the district's financial adviser. Taxes on a $250,000 commercial property would rise $889.

While Anderson acknowledged the tax impact is significant, he said it is more financially prudent to build a single new school than to continue to maintain and operate four aging buildings.

"Some of our buildings need considerable maintenance," he said. "We think it's wiser to build than to try to rehab."

A single school also would save more than $600,000 in annual operating costs, according to the superintendent. The savings would be reallocated toward boosting educational offerings, he said.

Anderson said a centralized school also would enhance cohesiveness, especially with elementary staff and students who are now more than 20 miles apart.

The new school would have a capacity of 1,000 pre-K-12 students. The district currently has about 950 K-12 students, though Anderson said the number is expected to dip over the next few years before stabilizing.

If the referendum is approved, the new school would likely open in the fall 2020.

A preliminary concept design has been developed and a cost estimate determined based on other area recent school builds, Anderson said. While the design hasn't changed, the cost estimate has grown $7 million since the 2015 request.

Once the new school would be operational, the district would look to sell some of its existing buildings for commercial use and demolish others for redevelopment.

Tribune Content Agency
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