Long Range Plan Review Committee February 25, 2008

Long Range Plan Review Committee

Minutes
February 25, 2008

Members in Attendance:
Harry Amend* Jane Curtis Sharalee Howard Dave Patzer Tami Stroud
Jerry Anderson Jim Ferguson Mary Larson Joel Palmer John Swallow
Rosie Astorquia* Scott Fischer* Kathy Liverman Tamara Poelstra Tom Trotter*
Jody Azevedo Lana Hamilton Bryan Martin* Pam Pratt* Dianna Walde
Hazel Bauman* Chris Hammons John McLeod Ronnie Semko Michelle Williams
Steve Briggs* Sharon Hanson Jill Neal Lori Smith
Susan Clayton Katie Harris Vern Newby* Kevin Stevens

*Ex-officio members

Welcome:
Dave Patzer called the meeting to order at 4:32 p.m. The meeting was held at the Midtown Center meeting room.

Approval of the December 20, 2007 Minutes:
Motion by Jerry Anderson to approve the December 20, 2007 minutes, second by Jane Curtis, approved unanimously.

Review of the S.P.F.L. Proposal:
The committee was provided with the 2008 S.P.F.L. proposal that was presented and approved by the Board of Trustees on February 14th. Hazel reported that Patano Architects hired Roen Associates to go over all the architectural and engineering drawings as well as look at the all costs associated with the Lakes Middle School project. They estimate that the cost to rebuild Lakes will be $23,656, 309 which includes the $4,500,000 currently reserved for the project. The committee was provided with a preliminary timeline for the Lakes project with a move in date of September 2009 as well as the Opinion of Probable Construction Costs both prepared by Patano Architects. During construction of the new building, the students will be housed in the old building. The $1,600,000 for technology was based upon information provided by Jean Bengfort, Director of Technology. After to speaking to several architects, it was determined that the cost to build a new elementary school using the prototypical design would be approximately $7,900,000. The $2,400,000 for property acquisition would not procure a 40-acre site for a high school, a 20-acre site for a middle school and a 10-acre site for an elementary school but it moves the District towards its goal. The total amount for the 2008 S.P.F.L. is $31,056,309. The election will be held on May 20th to coincide with the trustee elections in Zones 4 and 5. The committee members asked the following questions and/or made the following comments:
• Will the new elementary school be built on the Northshire site and will it be listed that way? Yes and the prototypical design will fit on that property. There is a high pressure petroleum line on the property but this will be under the parking lot and part of the playground area. Scott Fischer provided a sketch of how the footprint will sit on that site.
• Will both Lakes and the new elementary school be constructed at the same time? The taxpayers will want to know the timeline. This has not been talked about yet but it would be great if it could be accomplished. If the S.P.F.L. is approved, the certification occurs in September and the District will receive the first tax collection in January 2009 and again in July 2009 and then receive 2 more payments in 2010. There is the possibility that the District could get a tax anticipation note (TAN) in order to receive the funds to construct both projects simultaneously.
• If a TAN were secured, would the new elementary school also open in September 2009? It would be pushing it a little bit and bidding it in the late summer is not ideal. If we had another bad winter there would be no way. September 2010 would be more logical.
• If the September 2009 timeframe cannot be delivered then don’t make the promise

• What would it cost to do some of the preliminary work up front (permitting, etc.) prior to the levy vote? Approximately $200,000
• Another issue to keep in mind is that the A.D.A. upgrade at Sorensen will probably occur in the next year to year and a half

10-Year Plan:
The committee was provided with an updated draft of the Possible 10-year Plan for Facilities. Hazel explained that the names of the schools were taken off the 10-year plan. It is the work of this committee that determines the order of the projects. Property acquisition needs to be added to the plan. Harry asked the committee’s opinion about whether the prices for the projects should be included or not. The following comments were made:
• The prices are fine as long you state they are tentative as of 2008
• Sell the idea not the dollars
• Break each one down and state the impact per household/taxpayer
• Is our 10-year plan about kids or is it based on money? This is a philosophical debate that needs to be had. Not in favor of listing costs.
• Money is an important limiter on what we can do.
• If we are going to enter into a dialogue about bond vs. levy we will need costs for analysis
• We could have two different spreadsheets, one with costs and one without
• People might think we are trying to hide something if we have two different spreadsheets
• A lot people do not know how much it costs to build schools.
• We could state on the bottom of the plan that it may change with growth needs and inflation factors. It is only an estimate of financial needs at this point. It also needs to be dated.
• We could leave on only the amounts for the 2008 S.P.F.L. We could also say that our goal is to maintain the tax rate and not list all the amounts.
• People in the community may want to see what has been done in the past.
• A current list of needs should be provided to the community so they can see that these projects are past due. We could have multiple pages.
• Maybe the District should value their physical plant similar to technology (depreciation schedule)
• Is there a way to project, 10-years down the road, what the population growth will be?

Campaign:
Hazel stated that more people need to be converted. Many businesses have already contacted Harry and Hazel and offered their support. There will be a levy luncheon on Thursday, February 28th at the Century 21 meeting room from 11:30-1:00. Hazel encouraged everyone to attend. She thanked Tamara Poelstra and Lori Smith for all their help on the last campaign. She explained that Tamara, Lori and Mike Kennedy changed the way we campaigned. Tamara explained that a couple of different databases were combined and a solid list of voters, parents, teachers, etc. was created. Organized phone calling was setup, each volunteer had a script and yes voters were identified and placed on a list. The weekend before the election the yes voters were contacted and reminded to vote. The professional advertising campaign, volunteers and the School Board election also contributed to the successful passage of the levy. Now we have this list as well as a list of all the people that voted in the last election. We can combine these lists and call people to remind them of the election, educate them and get them to the polls. Jane Curtis works for Comcast which sells all the cable advertising for Time Warner. She explained that if the Levy Committee would like to advertise on Fox Sports, ESPN, etc. that she is the contact person. Blue 541 is one of their agencies.

Tax Rate Spreadsheet:
The committee was provided with a spreadsheet titled “School Plant Facility Levy Information FY 2003-2008 Actual - FY 2009 Projected.” Harry went over the spreadsheet with the committee. He explained that if our tax base does not grow at all the tax rate for the new levy will be $1.60 per thousand. He pointed out that if the tax base grew by 4% the tax rate for the new levy will be $1.54 per thousand which is less than what is was in 2002. The 2002 levy passed with 82% voter approval with a tax rate of $1.55 per thousand. Harry asked what the committee’s feeling was about campaigning using the tax rate as opposed to the dollar amount. The following comments were made:
• The Long Range Planning Committee made a promise back in 1991/1992 to keep the rate at less than $2.00 per thousand
• The taxpayer will want to know how much more they are paying to the school district.
• This is not a replacement levy.
• Property values have gone up.
• It makes sense to use the rates.

Board of Trustees Report:
The Board is deep into their Lighthouse Training. We are 1 of 10 districts in the State of Idaho that are participating in this training. At the end of next month, the Board will be attending the National School Boards Association conference. The Board meetings are now being televised on Channel 19.

Next Meeting:
The next Long Range Planning meeting will be held on Monday, March 24, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. at the Midtown Center meeting room.

Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Cheri Beard
Administrative Secretary

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