AMERICUS — It’s not on the ballot as of now, but research into a possible petition which could ask USD 251 North Lyon County voters to disband the district is — as you can imagine — causing quite a stir.
According to data provided by the Kansas State Department of Education, school-related taxes would go up for USD 251 residents if the district disbands. And it doesn’t matter which neighboring district is surveyed.
Deputy Commissioner Dale Dennis tells KVOE News if the district dissolves, a state board would then assign new district boundaries and residents in the old district confines would then pay school property taxes to their assigned district, which is not necessarily where their students may go. Data provided by KSDE shows the USD 251 levy for the current 2017-18 school year is 40.506, which includes no bond payments — a key because patrons in a dissolving district would pay the difference between the total mill rate and any bond payments of their new district.
Other adjusted mil levy rates in the area, based on the 2017-18 KSDE figures:
*USD 253 Emporia: 45.044
*USD 252 Southern Lyon County: 52.963
*USD 243 Lebo-Waverly: 42.598
*USD 284 Chase County: 45.564
*USD 330 Mission Valley: 49.769
*USD 417 Council Grove: 48.664
*USD 420 Osage City: 46.470
Non-school-related property taxes would not be affected if the district dissolves.
The taxation talk is part of the latest round of debates surrounding the district’s future, and it comes after an email chain about a possible petition came to light during Monday night’s USD 251 board meeting. It also comes after three board-supported bond measures for new school facilities, all voted down by district voters, and it comes after the board closed Reading Elementary effective June 30 despite a late push to turn the facility into a charter school designed to help dyslexic students in the area.
Click here for the KSDE link to mil levies statewide.
8:30 am Tuesday: Petition under discussion could ask USD 251 voters whether to dissolve district
Research is underway for a possible petition that could ask USD 251 North Lyon County voters to dissolve the district later this year.
Reta Jackson has confirmed to KVOE News she is researching what is involved to put the question on an upcoming ballot, which has included conversations or correspondence with the Kansas State Department of Education and Lyon County Clerk Tammy Vopat about legal requirements and other related matters. Jackson is unavailable for additional comment Tuesday, but an email chain obtained by KVOE News says Jackson believes the district is “broken beyond fixing” and another school facility bond may be coming if patrons who supported renovations over new facilities “do nothing.”
Vopat says Jackson discussed legal requirements for a petition about a month ago, but she also tells KVOE News no formal petition request has been presented to her staff as of Tuesday morning.
Board member Tammie Reed was contacted May 1 as part of the email chain and asked for her “two cents worth,” but she tells KVOE News she was asked about the future of Reading Elementary as opposed to the petition effort.
Reed says she had not looked at any dissolution paperwork and she’s not sure of the process if things develop to that end.
The topic of USD 251’s future has been a touchy one the past several years. The board majority supported three separate bond measures to build a new facility over the past four years. All three were defeated after heated debate over the need for new versus renovated facilities and how they could impact towns like Americus, which has Americus Elementary — now named North Lyon County Elementary — and North Lyon County Junior High, or Reading, which had its last day of school operations Friday.
