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District maintains facilities through permissive tax

by Ashley Fox Lake County Leader
| March 29, 2018 2:07 PM

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St. Ignatius Superintendent Jason Sargent looks up at a leaky roof at St. Ignatius Elementary. The roof is slated to be fixed this summer. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)

St. Ignatius School District Superintendent Jason Sargent said that in retrospect, it would have made more sense to approach bond issues as a partnership and explain the needs, rather than just ask for money.

A permissive tax put in place of those failed bonds, Sargent explained, goes toward maintaining facilities, such as replacing the roofs of the district’s elementary and high schools that will be completed this summer.

The estimated impact of a home valued at $100,000 is $12.93 annually, and $25.86 for a home value of $200,000 with the permissive tax.

Following two failed bond requests in 2016, St. Ignatius School District imposed the permissive tax to maintain its facilities.

District voters turned down a $5.3 million bond request in May of 2016, along with another request of $5.6 million in November 2016.

The district was given the green light to impose the permissive tax following the last legislative session when local lawmakers said no to a grant for $650,000 that would have helped maintain the district’s facilities. Sargent said St. Ignatius schools were placed first on the list to be awarded the funding, but a couple of legislators turned the vote down.

“Now we are turning to taxpayers because the state gave us permission” to do so, he added.

State officials told the St. Ignatius district that they could go forward and tax the community for facilities for up to 10 mills per school.

“That sounds like a great deal for Missoula or Kalispell, but for St. Ignatius it’s equal to $29,000 for each school,” Sargent said.

In St. Ignatius, Sargent said that one mill equals $2,900.

“You can imagine how many mills it takes to get to $5.6 million over 20 years. It’s a lot and it’s understandable for taxpayers” to turn that down, he said.

People have suggested that the district look into grants, which Sargent said aren’t available for facilities.

“Twenty years ago, grants were easier to find” but with the recession 10 years ago, funding has dried up.

“Now (grants) come with a restriction that is very much motivated for whatever that grant entitles you to do,” he said, adding that while there are some grants for building maintenance, it’s difficult to find any to match the district’s needs.

Sargent said that several years ago, the district had approximately $4.5 million in savings, but $3.5 to $4 million was spent on an elementary all-purpose room, three classrooms and a new entryway and computer lab in the elementary school, as well as the entryway commons in the high school.

Once the savings was spent, it has left the district without money in the bank.

“It’s taken us three years to dig out of the hole we were in,” Sargent said, noting that salaries were once at 40 percent of the impact aid, but now are down to 3 percent.

The district, he added, is just now back to being one year ahead, fiscally.

Moving forward, Sargent said it’s difficult to continue repairing facility needs because there’s a laundry list of things that need fixed.

“We’re in a reactive mode right now, rather than a proactive mode.”

Improvements and repairs to the schools include, but are not limited to, a new air exchange system in the old gym, new bathrooms in the high school lobby, a new shop, repairs to the family and consumer science room, repairs to tables and desks, repairs to windows, repairs to the library, updates to bathrooms and existing locker rooms, tennis court replacement, bleacher repairs, expansions in the music room, and updates or fixes to maintenance equipment.

Sargent said that the condition of the facilities don’t get in the way of the hard work of students and faculty.

Recently, St. Ignatius schools were named the first reservation school in the state to reach a “gold” level for the Montana Behavioral Initiative, and the first school district in the state or receive “platinum” rating, Sargent said.

“It just goes to say we’ve got outstanding students, we’ve got outstanding teachers, but we have facilities that are subpar and it’s not fair.”