The Greene County Community School District is proposing a $20 million bond issue for additions to be made to the elementary and high schools, so that the district can reduce its number of buildings to two.

Today, we are looking at how the bond referendum would impact property taxes.  Superintendent Tim Christensen says the $20 million bond would increase property taxes by $2.70 per $1,000 of valuation, which would increase the district’s blended rate, which is a combination of property tax and income surtax.

“Our current rate, if we added the $2.70, would move us up to about $15.20 (per $1,000 valuation), which is still below where we were in 2012 and well below where we were in 2007.  2007 we were actually up to $17.”

The proposed blended rate would still be lower than other area school districts which includes Nevada at $16.65, Perry at $17.71 and Boone at $18.20.  A further breakdown shows that if a home is assessed at $100,000, the $2.70 increase would be about $148 per year, commercial property would be taxed an extra $243 per year and agricultural property would be $2.55 per acre per year.

Christensen points out that other development in the County will help to reduce the tax-asking figure.

“The casino is not completely on the tax rolls.  There’s a lot of development in Greene County right now that is not completely on the tax rolls.  As that goes on (the tax rolls), that will bring that $2.70 per $1,000 valuation down further so, I think now is a great opportunity.”

The total cost of the project is $22.8 million, with $20 million from bonds and $2.8 million from the voter-approved Physical Plant and Equipment Levy.

The special bond referendum will be on the ballot on Tuesday, September 8th, in conjunction with the school board election.