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Ouachita Parish School Board adopts capital improvement plan, schedules May 3 bond election
Summary
The Ouachita Parish School Board approved a capital improvement plan and voted to call a May 3 special election asking voters to authorize up to $50 million in general-obligation bonds, officials said. Board materials state the proposition is written so no additional millage is projected to be required.
The Ouachita Parish School Board on Monday adopted a capital improvement plan and called a May 3 special election asking voters to authorize up to $50,000,000 in general-obligation bonds for projects listed in the plan.
The board approved two companion resolutions: one adopting the capital improvement plan that lists the projects intended to be funded with bond proceeds, and a second formally calling the election and placing the project list on the ballot. Grant Schluter, bond counsel, told the board the law limits the length of the ballot proposition text to 200 words and that a separate resolution is used to set out the full list of projects (Exhibit A) and incorporate it by reference into the ballot description.
Why it matters: The resolutions constitute the district's commitment to spend bond proceeds on the listed projects first, and the board said the ballot language is written so the measure should not require an increase in millage for residents in the east Ouachita district.
Schluter said the second resolution will present a proposition that “provides for not exceeding $50,000,000 for capital purposes and particularly for the projects listed in the capital improvement plan.” A board member noted the proposition is structured so there would be “no increase in the millage” for east-side residents; another speaker replied, “That is correct.”
Board members voted to adopt the capital improvement plan and to call the election. The motion to approve the capital improvement plan passed by voice vote; the motion to call the election also carried.
The board packet lists a range of projects to be funded if voters approve the bond; the packet and the official resolutions attach the full project list as Exhibit A. Bond counsel reminded members that, by state law and the language used, additional projects could be added only after the projects on the Exhibit A list have been funded from the bond proceeds.
The district did not provide a breakdown of how much each project would cost from the bond proceeds in the public discussion. The ballot proposition will include the text required by state law and incorporate the Exhibit A project list by reference.
Next steps: The board's call sets the special election for May 3. If voters approve the issuance, the district will seek to sell the bonds and apply proceeds to the projects in the order specified in Exhibit A.
