If the Beresford School District has an opt-out (and will continue to need one), why does the Beresford School District need to go to the taxpayers for a bond? The opt-out goes to our General Fund (GF). The GF primarily pays for the services of the people who work with and for the children of our district. Building projects come from the District’s Capital Outlay (CO) fund. To finance the project, we need to utilize cash on hand, capital outlay certificates, and a capital outlay bond. Through the use of cash on hand and capital outlay certificates, we can budget District payments for 15 years for the project. We have 10-year and 15-year CO plans in place that allow us to make payments while addressing maintenance and building project needs.
How does the cost of this project compare to the cost of the Legacy Project from 2018? The Legacy Project (performing arts center, auxiliary gymnasium, student lobby/commons, and community access fitness center) was a potential $14.8 million dollar project in 2018. The project encompassed roughly 51,000 square feet of new construction and remodeled area. The Beresford School District intended to fund the project with $2-3 million in Capital Outlay Certificates, $1-2 million in a Community Capital Campaign, and with an $11 million bond. The $11 million bond had a mill levy of $1.60/$1,000. The South Campus gymnasium addition project has a project cost of $7 million dollars for 25,140 square feet of new construction and a remodel of 3,900 square feet. To fund the project, the Beresford School District would utilize $3.5 million in capital outlay certificates and $3.5 million in bond funds. Issued capital outlay certificates would not affect a patron’s taxes. Instead, the District would make committed payments from our capital outlay budget for 15 years to help finance the gym addition. A bond issue would impact a patron’s taxes with a mill levy of $0.49 per $1,000.
For full project information, go to https://www.beresford.k12.sd.us/page/2022-bond-project.
The bond election is scheduled for Tuesday, September 13, 2022, at the Beresford City Library from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.