Although petitioners hoping to force a $13.2 million-maximum Oktibbeha County School District bond to an election were short of signatures Saturday to force such a move, organizers stepped up door-to-door canvassing efforts this weekend and say they’re optimistic they’ll hit the threshold to move the issue to the polls.
Aubrey Ray, a Sturgis resident and former school superintendent, and Dennis Daniels, who is running as a Republican for District 3’s supervisor seat, confirmed they and other activists have collected roughly 900 signatures since late December.
If delivered to the school district by noon Tuesday, a petition of 20 percent of eligible Oktibbeha County voters — about 1,700 people — could force the issuance to the polls.
In an email last week to The Dispatch, Daniels said organizers will take petitions to the circuit clerk’s office Monday afternoon to allow time for workers to vet the signatures.
A firm count of signatures was unavailable, and it is assumed the total will drop slightly because of names collected from either non-registered voters or those who live in SSD’s territory instead of the area serviced by OCSD.
Only residents within OCSD’s territory are eligible to sign the petition.
Ray and Daniels previously said they hoped to collect 2,000 names just to ensure they hit the needed tally.
If the full $13.2 million bond is issued, county residents are guaranteed to face a significant property tax increase.
OCSD’s December legal filing appears to cap debt service at 20 years, but it does not explicitly chart out how long residents within the district’s territory will pay for the loan.
Interest and principal payments could force a tax increase of about 13-15 mills if the 20-year plan is implemented.
For Fiscal Year 2014-2015, supervisors approved a 111.88-mill county operating budget in which OCSD dedicated 55 mills for operations and 2.92 mills for school notes.
OCSD Conservator Margie Pulley went on to increase the district’s bonding level to 3 mills to facilitate renovation projects at the two county elementary schools.
Public agitation began Pulley filed legal announcements last month stating the district’s intention to take on debt in lieu of construction needs associated with July’s state-mandated consolidation with Starkville School District.
Both Daniels and Ray criticized the timing of Pulley’s notice, saying it was enacted at a time many residents were not paying attention to politics due to the holidays.
If approved, the bonds are expected to finance the construction of a grades 6-7 demonstration school at Mississippi State University and could possibly assist the planned MSU-consolidated school district’s pre-kindergarten initiative.
“Response is overwhelming in support (of pushing the issue to the polls); however, 99 percent of the people still don’t know what’s going on (because) it’s not headline news daily or on TV,” Daniels said Saturday.
“We’re making a big push this weekend. There’s a lot of interest in the county,” Ray added.
During 2014’s legislative session, state lawmakers approved a new consolidation bill authorizing Pulley to proceed with acquiring local funds for construction efforts through the use of a reverse referendum.
OCSD’s first legal notice for the bond ran in a local media outlet on Dec. 22. Its open-ended wording allows the district to not only use the funds for the grades 6-7 school, but also to tend to a number of other issues, including purchases of buses, textbooks and computers.
The Commission on Starkville Consolidated School District Structure, a group the Legislature created and charged with studying the merger, previously called for $18 million from local and state levels for the combined improvement and construction projects needed to facilitate the creation of the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District.
OCSD’s legal notice does not identify how much of the $13.2 million the district would need for construction, but additional revenue streams could emerge during the legislative term.
State Rep. Gary Chism, R-Columbus, who sits on the House Education Committee, previously told The Dispatch that lawmakers are likely to open up the state’s public school building fund for those efforts.
Chism also said state Rep. Toby Barker, R-Hattiesburg, who originally filed the OCSD-SSD merger bill, is expected to file another piece of legislation that would allow districts under consolidation mandates to have first crack at the nest egg.
Additionally, David Shaw, MSU’s vice president for research and economic development who also served on the consolidation study committee, previously told The Dispatch that the university is attempting to raise $5 million for the grades 6-7 school project. He identified its likely location as near the entrance to the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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