Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
QCS Managing Editor
The Tucumcari Municipal School Board authorized and approved a date for the next school board election on Nov. 17.
The election will be held Feb. 3. On the ballot will be three school board positions and voter approval of a $3-million bond issue.
School board seats up for election will include the first district seat held by Carlos Romero, board president; the fourth district seat now held by Joe Barnett; and the fifth district seat held by Marion Payton.
The board heard details of the bond issue Monday from Paul Cassidy, a managing director for RBC Capital Markets, which handles bond-related matters for the Tucumcari school district.
Bond issues, he said, are on the ballot every four years, and this year, he said, the district can confidently ask voters for $3 million in bonds that will not raise their taxes.
Interest rates for such tax-free municipal bonds, he said, are expected to start at 3 percent, and the market is still very active for such bonds.
In addition, he said, assessed value in Tucumcari continues to increase every year, creating a solid basis to back the bonds, a form of debt, through their their 13-year maturity.
If approved, the bonds would be issued in $750,000 portions every year for four years, starting in 2015. Interest rates over that period are expected to climb from 3 percent to 3.75 percent.
At that rate, he said, the bonds will not require a tax increase to pay back.
Projects for the bond proceeds that exceed $100,000 in value include paybacks for previous projects, $700,000; work on the Tucumcari High School track, $200,000; improvements to the school system’s maintenance building, $717,000; Fifth Street building demolition, $300,000; football field lighting, $212,000; repairs to the auditorium roof at the high school, $127,700; Lights for the Tucumcari Elementary School Parking Lot, $200,000; and security cameras throughout the school district, $250,000.
There are other projects, including $80,000 for marquee signs for Tucumcari Middle School and Tucumcari Elementary School, on the list.
On Monday, the board also:
• Changed Jan. 15, 2015, from a student instruction day to a staff development day to accommodate a two-day teacher training session on implementing Common Core standards.
• Noted state recognition for members of the school district maintenance staff for individual achievements on the job.
• Recognized donations of $50 each from Bob’s Budget Pharmacy, Wellborn Pharmacy, Wells Fargo bank and Quality Lube and Tire; and $25 from Tucumcari General Insurance to support Book Night at Tucumcari Middle School.
