Ozark School Board Playing a Numbers and Word Game with "Tax Free" Bond Initiative

Voters in the Ozark School District will need to approach a new education bond with great caution. On the surface it sounds good. $6.5 million in additional funds to pay off two leases thanks to tax-free bonds.

With classes canceled during the day and a blanket of snow covering the ground that night, the Ozark School Board met Jan. 20 to finally settle its debate on an April bond issue.
The board agreed, 6-0, with one member absent, to place a $6.5 million no-tax-increase bond issue on the April 5 ballot.

“This bond will enable us to pay these lease-purchase agreements which will save the district about $1 million a year,” said Dr. Gordon Pace, superintendent of schools for the district. “That is money we can put back into the business of educating rather than pay interest.”

If approved, the bond issue would pay off two of the district’s three-lease purchase agreements totalling $4,490,000. With about $2 million remaining, the district plans to make building improvements and construct two vocational facilities.

$6.5 million with out new taxes? That's like money growing on trees right? Not so fast, this sounds more like the great scam President Clinton used to refinance the national debt claiming the deficit was coming down, when in fact it wasn't. Number games are common with public officials hoping to fool all the people all of the time.

The Ozark school board is playing with words. What they want to do is issue bonds valued at $6.5 million, payoff current loans totaling $4,490,000 to save what they say is $1 million in finance charges each year. The money not used to pay off the loans would be used to build the vocational center and new bus barn. Seeing how the current loans are being payed for with taxes we wouldn't see an increase in taxes. But what they don't say is the bonds will have to pay interest and be repaid. So our current tax rate is just kicked down the road plus we add another $2 million to our debt. Somehow the interest savings from the old loan is to set off the interest payed for the bonds. This sounds shady to me, but of course the Ozark school board and administration isn't known for their transparency either.