Poll: The School Board Wants to Save You Some Dough

School officials will weigh two options Thursday, both of which will bring good news to taxpayers.

Trustees will consider refinancing general obligation bonds because interest rates have slipped far below the rate of nearly 6 percent the district secured on debt first issued in 2000.

The borrowing, approved by the community's voters two years earlier, was used for construction projects, many of them at . Taxpayers pay for the bonds, which mature in 2026, with an extra charge tacked onto their property tax bill.

The board meets at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to decide how to repay the remaining $13.6 million of the original $17 million in debt, and that's where the taxpayers' savings comes in.

Under two refinancing proposals, the savings range from $2.8 to $3 million, according to Stone and Youngberg, the financial firm working with the district on the bonds.

The district's savings estimates for taxpayers were calculated based on a $1.1 million median value of local homes. The board's options include:

• Structuring payments so that most of the return for taxpayers comes from 2013 to 2016; using the median price, savings is estimated to be $118 annually.
• Allowing for payments spread over several years. The median-level homeowner would save an estimated $85 annually from 2013 to 2016, with reduced savings coming over most of the life of the bonds.

(See media box for the full presentation to the board, or just the slides showing the two proposals.)

Which plan do you prefer? Vote in the poll, or attend the board's meeting this afternoon to let trustees know what's best for you.