|
|
 |
Thursday
March 18, 2010 Since 1922 |
BH bonds passed
By Ryan Culver
Baytown Sun Published October 16, 2005 Barbers Hill voters approved $43.8 million in bonds for new school facilities Saturday.
The second largest bond election in Barbers Hill history was split into two propositions. Proposition 1 passed, earning 63 percent of 987 votes. Proposition 2 passed with almost 61 percent of 976 votes.
“I think it shows the commitment our community has to our schools and their commitment to education,” said Barbers Hill Superintendent Wayne Rotan. “The students are the big winners.”
Proposition 1 was $41.1 million and includes two additions of 25 classrooms to the high school, a new elementary campus, renovations to the intermediate campus, expansions of the district’s administration building and warehouse and technology upgrades. One technology upgrade, expanding the student laptop program to the high school, had some voters thinking about voting against Proposition 1 altogether.
The laptop program provides all students with a laptop and administrators hope the program will keep Barbers Hill on the cutting edge of education technology. They currently have a similar program at the middle school campus.
Proposition 2 was $2.4 million and provides for renovations to the district’s field house, which has not received significant upgrades since its construction in 1981. Also included are a practice track and alternate football field, increased seating at the softball fields and an addition of pens and stalls to the existing livestock facility. Proposition 2 would cost $2.4 million.
The bonds are needed to cover the cost of the rapid growth in Barbers Hill.
The school board called for a bond election in August. In Sept. 2004 demographer Pat Guseman of Population and Survey Analysts studied the district’s growth trends and offer projections that would allow the district to plan for new facilities.
By percentage, the district is the ninth fastest growing in the state and is second in the Houston area only to Pearland school district.
Wayne Rotan said the district has grown by more than 500 students in the past two school years and they are projecting to grow by 1,600 more in the next five years.
School officials estimated the total bond package results in a 2.2 to 2.3 percent increase in Barbers Hill residents’ property taxes for 2006, followed by an increase of 1.1 percent in 2007 and 2008.
The resulting increase in taxes on a home worth $100,000 would see a tax increase of $26 in 2006 and $13 in 2007 and 2008. Taxes on a home appraised at $215,000 would increase by $63 in 2006, $31 in 2007 and $32 in 2008.
“We have our projections about the tax rates; this is a projected worst-case scenario,” Rotan said. “If property values rise, we will probably not have to go the full percentage raise.”
The largest Barbers Hill bond election was in 1998 when voters approved a $45 million bond that paid for district-wide improvements including a new state-of-the-art high school campus. Barbers Hill voters have never turned down a bond referendum.
+ + +
Proposition 1
987 votes cast
Proposition passed by 63 percent
Proposition 2
976 votes cast
Proposition passed by 61 percent
Baytown Sun Published October 16, 2005 Barbers Hill voters approved $43.8 million in bonds for new school facilities Saturday.
The second largest bond election in Barbers Hill history was split into two propositions. Proposition 1 passed, earning 63 percent of 987 votes. Proposition 2 passed with almost 61 percent of 976 votes.
“I think it shows the commitment our community has to our schools and their commitment to education,” said Barbers Hill Superintendent Wayne Rotan. “The students are the big winners.”
Proposition 1 was $41.1 million and includes two additions of 25 classrooms to the high school, a new elementary campus, renovations to the intermediate campus, expansions of the district’s administration building and warehouse and technology upgrades. One technology upgrade, expanding the student laptop program to the high school, had some voters thinking about voting against Proposition 1 altogether.
The laptop program provides all students with a laptop and administrators hope the program will keep Barbers Hill on the cutting edge of education technology. They currently have a similar program at the middle school campus.
Proposition 2 was $2.4 million and provides for renovations to the district’s field house, which has not received significant upgrades since its construction in 1981. Also included are a practice track and alternate football field, increased seating at the softball fields and an addition of pens and stalls to the existing livestock facility. Proposition 2 would cost $2.4 million.
The bonds are needed to cover the cost of the rapid growth in Barbers Hill.
The school board called for a bond election in August. In Sept. 2004 demographer Pat Guseman of Population and Survey Analysts studied the district’s growth trends and offer projections that would allow the district to plan for new facilities.
By percentage, the district is the ninth fastest growing in the state and is second in the Houston area only to Pearland school district.
Wayne Rotan said the district has grown by more than 500 students in the past two school years and they are projecting to grow by 1,600 more in the next five years.
School officials estimated the total bond package results in a 2.2 to 2.3 percent increase in Barbers Hill residents’ property taxes for 2006, followed by an increase of 1.1 percent in 2007 and 2008.
The resulting increase in taxes on a home worth $100,000 would see a tax increase of $26 in 2006 and $13 in 2007 and 2008. Taxes on a home appraised at $215,000 would increase by $63 in 2006, $31 in 2007 and $32 in 2008.
“We have our projections about the tax rates; this is a projected worst-case scenario,” Rotan said. “If property values rise, we will probably not have to go the full percentage raise.”
The largest Barbers Hill bond election was in 1998 when voters approved a $45 million bond that paid for district-wide improvements including a new state-of-the-art high school campus. Barbers Hill voters have never turned down a bond referendum.
+ + +
Proposition 1
987 votes cast
Proposition passed by 63 percent
Proposition 2
976 votes cast
Proposition passed by 61 percent