Gasp! Taxes are going down, but not by much
By Jeff Hudson | Enterprise staff writer
The Davis school board met Thursday night and discussed a modest reduction in taxes paid by local homeowners, praised the draft version of the Spanish Immersion Program Master Plan, and moved to expand the number of elected student representatives who contribute to school board meetings.
The board heard a presentation from Rich Malone of Government Financial Strategies, a company that has long advised the school district on structuring
bonds and parcel taxes. Malone told the school board that due to lower interest rates, the district has an opportunity refinance its Series 2000 bonds, approved in 2000 by voters as part of Measure K, a $26 million school facilities bond.
The modest savings from refinancing would be passed on to homeowners, and there would be no impact on the school district's budget. The refinancing
would save homeowners about 69 cents per $100,000 of a home's assessed valuation. Therefore, the owner of a home assessed at $400,000 would save about $2.76 per year over a period of 15 years.
The school board directed staff to proceed with preparation of documents to refinance the bonds. A formal decision will come at a future school board meeting.
The board also heard a 40-minute presentation on the Spanish Immersion Program Master Plan. The elective program operates in grades K-6 at Chavez
Elementary, which has more than 600 students, making it the district's biggest elementary school in terms of enrollment. The program also has additional K-3 classes at Montgomery Elementary and seventh- through ninth-grade classes at Emerson Junior High.
The program's master plan will come back to the school board for formal approval at a later date. The board also discussed creation of a districtwide student council, to be composed of elected representatives from Davis, Da Vinci and King high
schools, the Davis School for Independent Study and the Davis Adult School. Eventually, representatives from the district's three junior high schools -
Emerson, Harper and Holmes - also would be added.
This council then would select one of its members to serve as the student representative on the Davis school board. School climate coordinator Mel Lewis is working with students to help structure the new student council.
This article originally appeared in the Davis Enterprise March 5, 2010. The complete story is available to subscribers at http://www.davisenterprise.com.
