New Bloomfield voters will see Proposition Y on the ballot during Tuesday’s municipal election.
Though the proposition involves an operating tax levy increase, it wouldn’t actually result in an increase in total taxes to people within the district.
At first glance, the proposition’s wording might be a bit confusing: “Shall the Board of Education of the New Bloomfield R-3 School District … be authorized to increase the operating tax levy ceiling by $.5000 to $3.3323 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation?”
However, there’s a twist in the second paragraph: “The district intends to reduce the debt service levy by $.5000 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation in order to offset the … increase to the operating levy.”
In other words, the district’s tax levy won’t actually change if Proposition Y passes. The district intends to decrease the portion of the tax that would go toward retiring principal and interest on the district’s bonds. That means the total school tax on New Bloomfield homes would remain the same.
“It simply moves money from one fund to another. We are able to do this because we have been wise and we’re paying off debt any chance we could,” Superintendent Sarah Wisdom said.
That additional funding would be used to maintain facilities, meet operating expenses and “retain qualified staff,” the proposition states.
“It has been a goal of mine as well as the Board of Education to raise salaries to obtain and retain quality teachers,” Wisdom said. “Without this levy, we will not be able to do so.”
Missouri’s average teacher salary is $45,233, while New Bloomfield teachers are paid an average of $34,619, according to information from the Proposition Y Steering Committee. The base salary at New Bloomfield schools is $29,000, Wisdom said, which is the seventh-lowest out of nine schools in the conference.
“The movement of funds takes a vote of the people,” she added. “Our community has been very supportive and positive, (and) we truly appreciate it.”