Brighton Schools Take Steps for $88 Million Bond Vote in May

Brighton School Board members voted 5-1 to take the first steps in drafting a $88 million bond issue that would appear on the May election ballot.

The application will now be submitted to the state's Department of Treasury for approval. If given, the Board of Education will then approve ballot language by its Feb. 27 meeting.

Board member John Conely voted against the motion while Board member Miles Vieau was absent.

The $88 million would go towards .

The bond will be issued in two tiers, the first lasting three years before the second kicks in. The bond term would last 33 years, though the district expects to pay it off in 27 years.

School Board Vice President Bill Anderson said that if the district were to do nothing, it's debt millage could jump to more than 7.11 mills due to declining property values - essentially the same rate the district is looking at under the new millage for the proposed bond issue.

"Obviously none of these numbers are set in stone," Anderson said. "It's all based on what property values do between now and 2019. So the thought 'if we do nothing, the millage will stay at 5.7 mills' is unlikely to happen."

Anderson said that the bond puts Brighton Area Schools in a better position to face declining values than any other school district in the state.

The bond issue would increase the current millage by 1.59 mills. If passed in May, residents would pay a little more than 7 mills, which includes the existing 5.7 mill debt levy.

Superintendent Greg Gray said this means that taxpayers would pay $1.59 more on every thousand of their state equalized value (SEV).

"So if you have a $200,000 house and a $100,000 SEV, your increase would be $159 dollars a year, or less than 50 cents a day," Gray said.

Gray also said that seeking the bond issue in the May election allows the district to levy a lower millage rate as well as borrow more money.