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The Ferguson-Florissant School District will ask voters to approve a $25 million no tax rate increase bond issue on August 3.  The district’s Board of Education made the decision at its May 12 meeting.

The bond issue will not cost district residents any additional money or impact its tax rate. Bonds are a way to borrow money for “bricks and mortar” and technology capital improvement projects.

If approved by voters, the funds will be used for a variety of projects focusing on technology, energy savings and supporting student achievement. Bond funds cannot be used for salaries and benefits, transportation costs, utilities, textbooks and other supplies.

“Our goal is to maintain a safe, comfortable environment that is conducive to academic achievement,” Supt Jeffrey R. Spiegel said. “And there will be something for every department and building across the district.”

During the past year, Ferguson-Florissant has tightened its belt by cutting about $15 million from its operating budget without any employee layoffs. Some of the steps taken to achieve this goal included:

• A voluntary early retirement incentive that attracted about 85 participants; most of those positions will not be filled.

• A loss of about $900,000 in state revenue that had been promised for the current 2009-2010 school year.

• Re-bidding employee health insurance, resulting in a $1.5 million savings while continuing to provide quality benefits.

• No salary increases for 2010-2011 with the potential for small bonuses for non-administrators if certain financial targets are met.

“Because we are careful stewards of the resources entrusted to us, we built up cash reserves in our operating budget which have been used in recent years to pay for capital projects”, said Mick Willis, chief financial officer. “However, like a family that dips into its rainy day fund to fix a leaky roof, that cannot continue indefinitely, which is why we are putting a no tax bond increase on the ballot.”

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