Lumberton Taxpayers Wrestle Over $28 Million Bond Issue

Some taxpayers in Lumberton are raising concerns about a $28 million school bond issue. Supporters believe the money would help fund the district's future growth.

Those against the bond say right now home appraisals are sky rocketing, the bond issue is too costly and taxpayers should reevaluate the propositions.

Proposition one would set aside $22 million for a new elementary school and new classrooms for the middle and high school campuses.

Proposition two, $6.5 million, would pay for the construction of a fine arts building, as well as other expansions and new construction.

"It's not that we're against keeping on top of growth. We just don't think this is the right plan," said David Bellow. He's against the bond issue.  

"It's gonna help those kids first and foremost and I don't know who'd want to vote against that," said Mike Smith, the Vice President of Lumberton's School Board.

Taxpayers on both sides of the issue plan to speak out at Thursday's school board meeting. It begins at 7 p.m. at Lumberton Middle School.

The following is a news release from the Lumberton Community Network:

Lumberton Community Network Encourages AGAINST School Bond

First of all, whether you are for the school bonds or against the school bonds, it is important that everyone understands that both sides of this issue are filled with good friends and even family. Both the FOR side and the AGAINST side have good intentions and the only difference is a difference of opinion about what is the best thing to do about expanding our schools. It is important for everyone to hear both sides and make your own decision at the polls on May 10^th. In the meantime, letâ€^TMs talk about the differences of opinions and discuss the facts and letâ€^TMs keep it friendly and not burn any bridges over this election.

To discuss the Bond election and other Lumberton issues go to the Discussion Forums at www.LumbertonCares.com

The Lumberton Community Network encourages the taxpayers, parents and voters of Lumberton ISD to wait (Vote NO to the Bonds) and come up with a better, more cost effective plan to add any space that we might need for our kids without an enormous 24% tax increase. The average household in Lumberton would see an increase of hundreds of dollars in extra taxes a year with many households seeing an increase of over $1000 per year.  We donâ€^TMt argue that it is important to keep on top of growth and build for our children, we just believe there are better and cheaper ways of expanding that would be best for the kids, the parents, and other taxpayers. We are already 15 million in debt and these bonds would triple that debt load (add 28.5 million) and max out our good credit. Letâ€^TMs take the rest of this year and come up with a new plan that would add whatever space we need without exhausting our good financial resources that we will need for the future.

School Board Member Peter Morrison explains the situation more in depth:

Lumberton is growing. Everyone knows that. But the difference between necessary spending for growth and wasteful spending is all in the numbers. And there are some serious problems with the numbers.

Over the last ten years, our district has added under 600 students. According to the administration's own numbers, we have space for over 750 students right now. That means at our present growth rates we have over 12 years of capacity at this moment.

Previous school boards in the past couple of decades have thankfully already planned for our current growth and often paid cash for improvements, giving us all the capacity we need at this time as well as a solid financial foundation for the future if we simply exercise some fiscal restraint.

An entire new campus for only two grades is very costly:

The cost of additional classrooms at an existing campus is very small compared to a new campus. With a few years of belt-tightening, we could easily pay cash for an auditorium and new classrooms at an existing campus. But it also means we have to stop spending money on things we don't need.

Another thing that no one talks about: if we build this new school and auditorium, we can't even afford to pay the bills.

The state of Texas will NOT allow our school board to raise taxes any higher than they already are to pay for maintenance and operations costs. Our district has already raised taxes to the maximum amount allowed by law.

Currently, our financial position is precarious. From 2006-2007, the district had deficit spending (more money was spent than came in). We won't know the 2007-2008 financial status until the year end, but it's safe to say that we're operating very close to the margin, with only $500,000 in our general fund at our last audit.

I think everyone agrees that an entirely new campus and auditorium will add to maintenance and operations costs. There are new administration, utilities, insurance, etc costs associated with all of these new buildings. A friend of mine has said that an auditorium alone could cost $200-$300 a day just to heat and cool it so that mold doesn't grow.

So, if we're just barely keeping our heads above water now, are unable to raise taxes, have no savings to speak of, and suddenly have a lot of additional bills to pay to cover these new operational costs, how are we going to do it?

Those supporting these bond proposals have good intentions. Unfortunately, those good intentions are leading us down a path of higher taxes and costs we simply cannot afford.

Voting Info:

Early voting begins April 28 - May 3^rd, 8AM - 5PM, and May 5 & 6th, 7AM - 7PM; Lumberton I.S.D. Administration Bldg., 121 South Main, Lumberton, TX

Election Day voting is Saturday, May 10^th, 7AM - 7PM, Lumberton Middle School,

123 S. Main, Lumberton, TX