‘No’ to NCSD bond question squelches facility maintenance

To Nye County School District Superintendent Dale Norton, it was a no-brainer.

Voters would read what the General Acquisition Obligation school bond question, or State Question No. 1, was about and simply vote in favor of it.

The question read: “Shall the Nye County School District be authorized to continue to issue general obligation school bonds to finance the acquisition, construction, improvement and equipping of school facilities?”

Nye County School District officials were hoping voters would support the question, by extending the current bonds by 10 years.

A “yes” vote would permit the district, with the approval of the Nye County Debt Management Commission, to continue issuing the bonds between the date of authorization and Nov. 4, 2024.

A “no” vote, consequently, would prevent the district from issuing the bonds, which would result in the elimination or reduction in the district’s property tax levy for school bonds.

Norton’s hopes were dashed, as voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected the question, which would have provided much needed capital for ongoing construction projects district-wide.

The margin was 21.25 percent in favor of the question, compared to 78.75 percent who voted no.

Virtually every campus throughout the 18,182 square mile county is in desperate need of many interior and exterior repairs, with little money to cover the overall costs.

At present, the district is looking at more than $17 million dollars to address those projects.

“That the cost right now for upgrading facilities and upgrading technology in the classroom and capital costs,” Norton said. “It’s the price of doing business, to maintain what we have.”

Had voters supported the question, it would not have raised county property taxes, but rather extend the current general obligation school bonds which are currently funded at 58.5 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Norton on Wednesday expressed concern about the question’s rejection by voters.

“This was not an additional tax that will be put on anybody’s tax bill,” Norton said. “It is currently active right now. In order for the school district to continue to move forward with repairs and the equipping of schools not just in Pahrump, but across the entire district.”

The superintendent also noted that even though voters rejected the question, all is not lost – for now.

“We’re okay right now because we are currently operating under the current structure for bond,” he said. “We have bonding capacity up through 2016. My concern is come 2016, if it doesn’t pass, it means any of those capital improvement costs will come out of our general operating costs, which is already very lean because of the economic crash that we took, and we have not recovered.”

Earlier this year, district officials hired an architect to inspect each campus and the district office.

Norton said the inspections revealed scores of projects that need to be addressed throughout the district especially at schools in the north.

“In Tonopah, we don’t have any air conditioning in the elementary school up there,” he said. “Our dilemma right now is, do we put air conditioning in which is going to cost us power? The Tonopah campus is an old structure that we really need to abandon. That school is over 50 years old.”

District Chief Financial Officer Ray Ritchie said recently that not enough local residents are aware of the district’s financial crisis.

“I am really concerned about those who suggest that we just ‘do it as we need it,’” he said. “We already know how old the buildings are in the north and we need to address those issues now.”

The scope of the district’s projects vary from simple painting and wall repairs, to the installation of HVAC units and high-tech classroom video and audio systems.

Crack repairs and the resurfacing of many of the school district’s parking lots are also part of the proposed project.