It's for the Children!

Missouri School Rankings: Clever School District

By Gretchen Garrity

When it comes to spending taxpayer dollars, school districts have the winning refrain: It's for the children!

This mantra is so common it deserves to be examined. Variations on the theme include: Do it for the kids! You can never do enough for the children! The children deserve the best we can do for them! I would do anything for the children!

These common "arguments" have been used for many years to browbeat and gaslight overburdened taxpayers into agreeing yet again to another raid on their pocketbooks. School personnel and elected officials often use this mantra as they push a bond for yet another project that must be funded because...the children!

Has anyone ever asked these questions: Why can't the school district plan and budget for improvements? Why do they have to go into debt to big financial organizations to do repairs and maintenance, or even add classrooms?

Isn't there an ongoing maintenance plan for the school districts? Aren't they making sure the infrastructure is inspected and maintained? When they see a problem, why don't they make provision for it? Is it reported to the school board before it becomes a big problem? Is the school board even aware of how the buildings are being maintained and on what kind of schedule?

Why doesn't the district use the tax revenue they receive from the citizens to fund improvements? By continuing to borrow millions of dollars from big financial organizations to fund improvements, renovations, and capital projects, the school district keeps taxpayers on the hook for ever-increasing loans and interest to bankers. 

To add insult to injury some school districts, like the Clever School District, take their internal bond debt (otherwise known as Lease Purchase Debt) that is paid from the Capitol Projects account. This account can have a portion of the property tax levy associated with a school, especially if it is a large amount of debt. This is generally PAID BACK through the base levy for Operations--the permanent tax you pay to the school through property taxes. 

Lease Purchase Debt does not require the approval or vote of the community. So in asking voters to take on all or a portion of this debt if the $16 million bond is approved, the school district gets to loosen their belt, while asking the community to continue to tighten theirs. It allows them a get-out-of-debt free card to just do it all over again in time for the next generation.

This is not living within one's means. It is the proverbial "borrowing your way out of debt," only it is the taxpayer who ends up paying for the fiscal irresponsibility of the school district.

The school district should be looking at the whole community when thinking about bonds. We are all in this together, and taxing the elderly out of their homes, burdening homeowners with ever-increasing property taxes actually harms children in the long run. The 20-year bond debt that gets rolled over will affect students as they move into home ownership, careers and families.

And what are taxpayers getting for their constant "investment" in more and better school buildings? How are academic scores in your school? In Clever, academic scores are declining. According to Missouri School Rankings, the Clever School District is ranked 316/535. It has an overall GPA of 1.50/4.0.

Read it and weep. In 2018-2019, Clever ranked 301/516. In 2020-2021, Clever ranked 138/516. In 2021-2022 they ranked 238/552. Now they are ranked 316/535. What accounts for these numbers--the sudden rise and then the steep decline?

Clever currently has a student to teacher ratio of 15:1. This is ideal. Why are academic scores so terribly low?

Missouri School Rankings: Clever

The question must be asked: How is a $16 million school bond going to bring up the academic scores in Clever? How will it benefit the children's minds and reasoning skills?

You know who really benefits by keeping school districts in a perpetual debt cycle? The financial institutions that parasitically feed off the community by loaning school districts millions of dollars, and the associated companies that are standing by to design and construct the plans for new weight rooms, covered walkways, and so on.

They are the MAJOR beneficiaries. The lender stands to make over $8 million in interest alone. It's for the children! 

No, it's for the lenders and the companies that are hired to do the design and construction.

Parents and taxpayers, it would be one thing if our students were succeeding academically. In fact, new science labs are a good thing, as well as needed renovations. But it doesn't take $16 million to build five new classrooms. A reasoned, well-thought out plan that takes into account the needs of the whole community is requisite. It's time to go back to the drawing board, to come together in a way that holds our schools accountable for the mission they are tasked with--to turn out educated individuals.

If the school district is failing to turn out students who can read well, write well, do math well, and reason well, then the focus should be on academics and not weight rooms or performing arts centers.

Are citizens aware that the organizations who are helping the school district to sell these bonds to the voter are associate or business members with state trade organizations like the Missouri School Boards Association or the Missouri Association of School Administrators? In Clever, it is Raymond James who desires to be the lender to the school district. They are a business member of MASA.

The plan designer is Buxton Kubik Dodd Design Collective who are members of the Missouri School Boards Association Business Connections. These professional trade connections help drive the school bond issues that plague communities all over our nation.

School districts lose sight of the fact that they serve the taxpaying citizens as a whole--families, elderly, homeowners--and must keep in mind their first mission is to adequately EDUCATE the children entrusted to them and to properly and morally steward the money they are provided by the taxpayer.

It's for all of us. We're all in this together.

Clever Residents: Points to Consider Before Voting

(From: Clever School District)

 

Guest Post by Retha Holland

The Clever R-V School District has requested voters approve, on Tuesday April 2, 2024, a bond for $16 million for acquisitions, improvements, construction, and renovation at their various school buildings.

Voters should consider these points when deciding to approve or disapprove the proposed bond:

1) Will the proposed bond help increase student academic scores? Clever  has among the lowest student scores in the county, despite having an ideal teacher to student ratio of 1:15.

2) Is the additional tax burden justified and reasonable? The Clever School District levy is currently at $4.6394 per $100 of assessed valuation of real and personal property, with $3.1636 of that going toward district operations, and the rest--$1.2758--going toward debt service (additional account that services the bonds). Currently, this alone represents over ¼ paid to Clever Schools in property taxes.

3) Does the Clever School District currently have bond debt? According to the estimated tax collection the district could be within $100,000 of all debt paid on their bonds. Currently the collection of tax for the levy associated with the bond account is nearly $1.4 million in revenue. However, knowing they were close to paying off the bond debt, the District refinanced the 2017 bond at lower interest rate, but in doing this kicked the can down the road to 2026 before they could call it for payoff--which means they extended the loan with interest. Let that sink in.

4) Has the population of students in Clever increased or decreased? There has been a reduction in student population in recent years; for example, in 2021-2022 there were 1,351 students, while according to January 2024 school board minutes we currently have 1,309 students. Surrounding schools are also slowing or stagnant in student population growth, even though the population as a whole has increased.

5) How much local tax revenue has the school district received and is it increasing or decreasing? Total local revenue in 2022 was $4,563,636. The estimated current tax year revenue is $5,015,274, an increase of $451,638. Additionally, tax reassessments of property (not counting new construction) is up over 6%, which means more money for the District. Note, the local tax effort increased from 2020-2021 through 2022-2023 by $782,192. Combined, this is over a million dollars in extra property tax revenue in four years. Remember, this is just local tax revenue!

About 2,750 homes serve the school district with property taxes. The median income in town is $53,000, while total median household income serving the Clever School District is $63,295. The median for Christian County is $66,500. Yet we have the highest property tax levy associated with the school district in Christian County. (Income obtained from Clever Schools RSP presentation stats for 2022.)

6) What are the payments and interest going to be on the $16 million bond? Take a look at the repayment plan (Bond Debt Service) that is on page 17 of the Raymond James Public Finance company's "Financial Overview of the District." Over the term of the loan, the interest payments on the $16 million bond would total nearly $8.8 million and would not end until 2043.

Taxpayers can get a copy of the plan by emailing the Clever School District and requesting a copy of the "Financial Overview of the District" by Raymond James.

Page 17 of the District overview

7) Is there an itemized or estimated cost for the projects proposed? To date, there has been little concrete project plans and projected costs shared with citizens. The language on the ballot allows the District to use the bond money for just about anything. They are borrowing millions of dollars without a clear cost plan for any of the school facilities.

8) Does the language on the ballot matter? It does! It says, "If this proposition is approved, the debt service levy of the District is estimated to remain unchanged at $1.2768 per one hundred dollars assessed valuation of real and personal property." The language should read "to remain unchanged," which protects the taxpayer from any levy increases during the contract. For instance, if tax revenues would decrease for whatever reason, the District might not be able to make their payments on the bond, and would have to increase the tax levy, thereby burdening taxpayers in perpetuity. The use of the word "estimated" gives the District the wiggle room to increase the levy. "Estimated" means taxpayers could be subject to levy increases if needed to pay the debt. That $1.2758 could turn into $1.40--all based on a forecast of 4% increase in property values, averaged.

Additionally, the ballot language would allow the District to push off some of their internal debt (called lease-purchase debt) onto the taxpayer. It is made unclear how much that will be; as of last fall the total internal debt was $5,985,000.

9) What about renters who don't pay property taxes? If renters ever wonder why their rent is raised every year, and thought they had a greedy landlord, they should realize that when property taxes go up, the landlord is paying more for the rented home, and thus must raise rents in order to keep pace with taxes. Additionally, a percentage of the personal property tax that everyone pays on their vehicles also goes to the schools. Everyone suffers from ever-increasing property taxes!

10) What about SB 190, the tax freeze for seniors? That bill caps assessments on property for those eligible for Social Security, but it does not protect elderly homeowners from a levy increase. It only caps the value of the property.

11) Why should I vote? Nothing ever changes. While our national votes don't seem to matter much, your vote in local elections has major impact. Few people vote in off-year elections, so those who do vote have an outsized impact on what happens in your community. It can and has come down to a single vote that can elect a new mayor or alderman or approve/disapprove a bond issue. Your vote in a local election has a direct impact on you and your community.

12) What about the Hancock Amendment? Clever Schools has been taking advantage of the loophole in the Hancock Amendment that caps property tax increases to 5% for the District's Operations Account. The District has been  transferring a portion of the levy funds from the Operations Account to the Bond Account (which pays down the bond debt). This is a type of legal but unethical "shell game" to keep any and all of the increase over the 5% excess revenue on existing property, instead of returning it to the taxpayer. (Last year was over a 6% increase.)

13) But it's for the children! We all want our schools to be able to have what they need to function well. When we lead with emotional sentiment it can cloud judgment of what is appropriate or reasonable. This tax affects everyone, low income, fixed income, even the children who will be paying off this bond debt for 20 years! Stop and think about that. These loans last about 20 years, and when we approve them, the payments and interest will affect the next generation of students.

14) Is there a better way? Yes. I have found nothing stating that we cannot save money through a tax levy in the District's Capital Projects Fund, where not only can the debt be for a shorter stated period, but with a reduced levy rate the school gets all the property tax revenue that is collected instead of 33% (over $8.7 million) in interest going to the bank and putting our next generation in debt. It would remain our approved debt with a clearly defined contract. It is a win for everyone. We can navigate the needs of the school in a more productive, clear and efficient way.

For example, a 50-cent "saving levy" in the Capital Projects Fund would be approximately $500,000 per year currently in tax revenue. If approved, for say, five years, it would be $2.5 million for stated projects. Currently, according to the Raymond James contract of the proposed $16 million bond, the interest alone over the next five years is higher than the proposed example.

We should live up to our name and be more Clever in how we do things. 

Additional Resources:

Clever Schools Bond Issue

Clever Missouri Hold on to Your Wallets

City of Clever Elections Page

Christian County Election Calendar

Clever School District Bond -- Heads Up!