Hamlin discusses EPSB's tax call

By: CARISSA HEBERT

Managing Editor

(Editor’s Note: We spoke with Superintendent Hamlin recently to ask her some questions about some of the issues we have heard as the board prepares for its upcoming election. Hamlin said she will continue to discuss the issues associated with this tax as the election draws closer, so voters can make the best possible informed decision in this matter.)

The Evangeline Parish School Board will have a tax issue on the July 19, ballot for Ward One voters to decide if they will fund an 18.7 millage to construct a new high school at the district’s site on state Highway 29 and make improvements to Chataignier Elementary.

In the fall of 2007, the school board asked voters in Ward One to approve a 26.5 millage for 40 years, which would generate $28,500,000. The proposition failed by 299 votes. After many meetings, Hamlin learned some voters might support the millage if it was lower and for fewer years.

The plan was downsized, and the new proposal is for 18.7 mills, which would generate $21.5 million. This proposal is for 30 years. The board would secure a rural development loan for $10.5 million, which would be paid back in 30 years and sell general obligation bonds for $11 million, which would be paid back in 25 years.

Lonnie Bewley, who would handle the sale of the bonds, explained the millage could come in lower once the bonds are sold. He said the district will not exceed 18.7 mills. He used conservative rates to fund this plan. Bewley has worked for the district since the 1960s, and he estimated the bonds not to exceed five-and-a-quarter, but he’s hoping for a four-and-a-half percent interest rate or lower. He said if those general obligation bonds were sold today, they would be sold at four-and-a-half percent. With his knowledge of the market, he anticipates if the proposition is approved, those bonds would not be sold until December or January. “We don’t see any big changes in the market system,” he said.

Bewley also said this is a great number for the district when compared to other school districts. Jennings’ residents just approved a 21 millage tax along with a half-percent sales tax to build a new school, and Kinder approved over 25 mills, he said. Several rural areas are paying millages of 40 to 60 mills for new schools. Pine Prairie voters had a 37.5 millage for its renovations. The tax base here is strong, according to Bewley, who sees the millage rate dropping as time passes.

Hamlin said if the millage is passed, then the board will not be obligated any longer to spend money from its general fund on Ville Platte High. The district is under a desegregation order, and if this millage fails, they will be in court on the Monday after the election with the U.S. Justice Department, who has filed motions suggesting the district is not doing all it can to improve the situation at the Ville Platte campus. Those involved in this case believe U.S. Magistrate Melancon will close the campus if the millage is not approved. Even the district’s special attorney, Robert “Bob” Hammonds, agrees with this statement. He said from his conversation with the judge, he believes the judge will decide to close this campus.

If the board is no longer obligated to use these monies, Hamlin wants to develop a five-year plan to make repairs to campuses around the parish. She said some campuses need roofs, lighting, restrooms, etc. She plans on looking at these needs with Perry Watson, the school’s architecture, and creating a five-year plan to address these needs.

The present Ville Platte High campus has never been condemned, as rumors would have it. The U.S. Justice Department’s facility expert Frank Brewer has written several reports on the school discussing its antiquated appearance. One report states, “The results of renovation efforts cannot or will not produce the first-class school facility that the construction of a new high school would produce.

When reorganization took place in 2004, the district attempted to address Brewer’s findings by building a new science wing and refurbishing the library and a computer lab next door to it. The district could not install central air, but it did change the windows to make it more energy efficient.

Hamlin said Brewer did give them credit for a new industrial building and a new fifth and sixth grade wing. The present campus would be turned into a junior high and the old seventh and eighth grade building would be removed. The campus is land-locked and they are in desperate need of parking. Hamlin said this area would give additional parking for faculty. Parking is now filling several blocks around the campus as well as the horseshoe.

She said the justice department has never addressed the middle school, only high schools. And when compared to Basile and Pine Prairie, Ville Platte does not meet the court’s expectations.

Watch for more on this issue in the next paper.