Dear editor,
With recent coverage by the Iola Register of our elected legislative officials, particularly in relation to property tax burdens in regard to school bond issues, myself and the USD 257-Iola Board of Education feel it necessary for the community and patrons to understand the drastic changes enacted by the Legislature in 2015 and its ramifications for bond and interest state aid.
For decades before 2015, the state’s Bond and Interest State Aid formula was a model for the nation in allowing poorer, rural districts like USD 257-Iola (which may be mainly residential housing and farmland) equitable opportunities to urban/suburban districts in passing a bond issue. This is due to Bond & Interest State Aid (monies coming from the state’s General Fund) helping offset local property tax dollars to pay for a school bond Issue.
Before the changes were enacted, USD 257-Iola was a 51 percent Bond & Interest State Aid District. Put simply, this meant the state would pay 51 percent of the bond and interest payments for the duration of a passed school bond issue. At its heart, this is a property tax relief program that provides equity to taxpayers across the state and serves as an economic engine for local rural economies and communities.
During the 2015 Legislative session, changes to the formula were made (with the inclusion of the Fort Leavenworth School District into the formula) which changed the “floor” for how school districts were assessed a bond and interest value (This was due to Fort Leavenworth being almost entirely federal property, thus having almost no Kansas property tax value).
The new formula caused the loss of approximately 40 percent in state aid on all bond issues passed after 2015.
(It’s worth noting that in the 2022 Legislative Session, Fort Leavenworth was removed from the State Aid Bond & Interest funding formula. However, in doing so, the Legislature also dropped the computation rate from 75 percent to 51 percent for State Bond & Interest State Aid, which had the overall effect of keeping that status quo. Consequently, State Aid Bond & Interest funding levels for districts stayed the same with this action).
For wealthy urban and suburban districts, this had no effect. Because their local economies generate in excess of what is needed to fund their school systems, they do not receive state aid. They can pass a bond issue with little to no increase to their mill levies because their property valuations are so high and their student numbers so robust.
However, for poorer, rural districts like USD 257-Iola, the change had a crippling effect. Where USD 257-Iola was once a 51 percent Bond & Interest State Aid District was instantly reduced to 35 percent. This reduction shifted approximately 40 percent of the Bond & Interest State Aid to the local taxpayers in the form of increased local property tax mill levies. For the 2023-24 school year, this value is now 22 percent.
Here are some other examples of how rural school districts were affected by the Bond & Interest State Aid reductions:
USD 333-Concordia — 55% reduced to 8%
USD 450-Shawnee Heights — 59% reduced to 12%
USD 372-Silver Lake — 60% reduced to 13%
USD 356-Conway Springs — 50% reduced to 0%
As a school community, we need your help in communicating with our elected legislative officials our plight.
