Roof work tops Cudahy referendum spending list

Cudahy school officials will seek voter permission to spend up to $4.4 million to improve schools on the spring ballot.

The School Board would use the money to repay $1.48 million in Qualified Zone Academy Bonds and $2.9 million for capital projects, including new roofs at Gen. Mitchell and J.E. Jones elementary schools.

“The roofs are really driving this,” said Jim Papala, director of financial services. “There’s a potential for increasing the damage to the buildings if we don’t take care of the roofs real soon.”

Papala said state-imposed revenue limits prevent the district from doing big projects such as roof replacements. If the referendum meets voter approval, the roofs will be repaired this summer.

Other projects include window, lighting and floor repairs and renovations at Cudahy High School, according to a list from the district.

Nothing ‘extravagant’

Superintendent Jim Heiden said nothing on the list is “extravagant or over-the-top.”

“These are all things that need to be taken care of,” he said.

The district was eligible for $1.48 million in QZAB bonds in 2007, and a borrow would need to be made by the end of this year, Papala said. If the referendum passes, the bonds will be issued and repairs will be made this summer.

A QZAB is a tax-credit bond that affords schools a low- or no-interest loan to be used for such things as building renovations or repairs.

The QZAB funds are meant to serve schools with a large population of low-income students, so the district is limited to spending the money at Lincoln, Park View and Kosciuszko elementary schools and Cudahy Middle School.

Another reason to move forward with an April referendum is because the district’s debt service for referendum debt is anticipated to drop by about $1 million after 2010, reducing the tax levy and softening the impact to taxpayers, Papala said.

“The timing couldn’t be better,” Heiden said.

The tax rate impact of a $4.4 million referendum is 13 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value for the 2009-10 school year, according to a document prepared by Robert W. Baird & Co. The tax rate is spread out over a 13-year-period. The amount varies by year, but the average tax rate is 28 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, according to the document.

Kutka disputes ‘needs’

Only board member Linda Kutka voted against going to referendum at a meeting earlier this month.

Kutka said not everything on the list is needed, especially at Cudahy High School. She disputed the inclusion of $625,000 for office renovations, $281,000 to construct a circular drive in the school’s parking lot and $35,000 for an electronic welcome sign outside the school.

A parking lot also would be constructed in front of Kosciuszko Elementary School for about $112,000, she said.

“Those projects, I believe, are not needed,” she said. “We are in difficult times, and we need to ask citizens for exactly what we need.”

She said the unnecessary projects will not boost students’ test scores or allow the district to hire more staff.

Chantel Balzell can be reached at (262) 446-6602.