This is the third in a series of questions asked of Higley USD Governing Board candidates. Voters will decide among these four candidates for the two open four-year seats on the board.
Do you support the district's 2022 bond question? Why or why not?
Brooke Garrett, homemaker, volunteer
Yes. I would love to not have to worry about passing bonds to fund our public education system. However, that is the way the legislators have set up the funding within our state. Public education gets one-third less per student that are enrolled in their schools. Charter schools receive more money per student. However, that leaves the public school system at the mercy of the voters and to pass bond votes. Therefore, passing bonds is the only way to increase and make up the difference of funding. The district has been extremely transparent with exactly how they plan to spend this money, determining exactly what for at each school. They have worked with the public to determine and assess the needs, and they know they are accountable to us for seeing it through.
Roy Morales, operations support manager
HUSD has an outstanding bond due to mature in 2035. That bond will cost Higley residents $93 million, $83 million to pay off the bond as it matures and $13 million toward interest. Almost all of those funds are spent for items needed almost 10 years ago. On top of that bond, HUSD has a lease for the construction and use of their two middle schools since 2013. The cost to build each of the two middle schools was $27.6 million or $55.2 million for both. The lease costs increased over time, the district $6.4 million annually. The cost of the lease over the life of the lease is expected to reach $157 million per school or $314 million total.
There is another bond measure again on the 2022 ballot for $77 million after the $177 bond measure did not pass by voters in 2021. The 2021 bond measure was just too big to swallow, so, they are presenting a “bite-sized” bond. 50% of the proposed bond is to fund major projects for a new elementary school, Phase II Higley HS and the upgrade to the HCPA Performing Arts center. 25% is dedicated to technology to include display panels/projectors, teacher laptops/copiers, enhancement to network and to fund that every student from 7th to 12th grade to receive a laptop.
I suspect that if the 2022 bond passes, there will likely be a follow-up bond initiative to purchase the two middle school leases in the next few years. The prevailing interest rates on these bonds are undetermined, however, it is a sure bet the bond rates will be higher in order to compete with prevailing interest rate hikes. This will then leave Higley residents stacked with three potential bonds, paying for enormous sums of consultant fees/points, interest and bond debt for generations to come. The question is, can the district deliver on the bond debt going forward with the looming recession? With inflation at a 40-year high, the housing market will correct and put heavy downward pressure on property values, impacting revenues collected to pay for these bonds. This will put our community into greater peril in paying its debts and increase the likelihood of bad financial decisions being made by future board members.
Districts should take pragmatic approaches in seeking different ways to fund their districts for large projects. They could consider using tax levies in lieu of bonds to avoid paying large fees/points in underwriting bonds and interests over the life of those bonds. Change the mentality from financing long-term debt to a pay-as-you-go method. Perhaps require developers to “donate” their resources to build in our community. The district needs to dig deep into its budget and trim any excess fat from their expense column. These may include eliminating unnecessary administration positions, prioritizing essential projects, rethinking district needs over wants; such as one to one laptop for all students and delay the need to build a new school until they are at or above capacity.
We should also urge local and state representatives to come up with new per-student funding formulas to eliminate the unnecessary annual ritual of scrambling for overrides and bonds. The district needs to look into every nook and cranny to seek savings and ways to unlock potential funds from our local and state municipalities.
We are heading into tough times, and we need to be frugal with our taxpayer funds. The district must demonstrate to its community that it is utilizing every resource and looking at every possible source of funds before asking the community to pony up funds for a new bond.
Anna Van Hoek, financial and accounting analyst
A bond or override should only be requested after exhausting all other budgeting possibilities. If and when the district requires additional funds, we must be transparent with the community and accountable for the funds we’ve spent. Every attempt should be made to live within our means. It is our duty to be good stewards of taxpayer funding. Should we need to go back to our community to ask even more of them, we should present a detailed plan that includes specifics about how the money will be spent, and how we will position the district so that it is not an ongoing, necessary renewal upon expiration. We must be fiscally responsible. Just like our personal budgets, we should remain within what we can afford.
Amanda Wade, stay-at-home mom, applying to school
Yes, absolutely. This bond does not raise taxes on any community member, it has been adopted and planned out by the current board and they have created an informative breakdown of how they are using the additional funds. This information is clearly posted on the district website for anyone who may have questions about it. Funding is much needed in our district, and as we continue to grow, we have to be proactive in how we respond to the needs of our schools.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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