East Mills Passes PPEL

MALVERN - The second time turned out to be the charm for the East Mills Community School District’s Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL).

Four months after rejecting a similar referendum, East Mills School District voters have approved a PPEL levy increase of $1.34 per $1,000 of taxable valuation for a 10-year period in the district.  The measure passed with 54 percent of the votes saying “yes” to the increase in the Feb. 3 special election.

The PPEL increase will mean nearly $400,000 annually to be used for district infrastructure and improvement projects.

The additional PPEL money will also allow the district to avoid using general funds to pay for projects.

This time around, the district sought the approval of voters with a clear plan targeting two specific projects for the new revenue: completion of the long in gestation geo-thermal project at the elementary school building in Hastings and much-needed repairs to the roof at the junior-senior high school in Malvern.
The combined cost of the two projects is expected to cost just over $1 million.
East Mills Superintendent Paul Croghan said many things factored in the referendums’ approval, among them was the better transparency in how the revenue would be spent and the district doing a better job explaining the need for the PPEL.

“We definitely did a better job getting it (the PPEL) out to the public with help from the media,” Croghan said.

“Information getting out helped. The timing of it with budgets coming up helped. The basic needs of the district need to be met. Where the money is going to be spent helped too. “

Croghan went on to say an announced reduction in the district’s management levy, which will result in lower taxes district wide, also factored in the yes vote.

Due to early retirements the last two years, the board was able to reduce the district’s management levy by $3.02 which means even with passage of the $1.34 voted PPEL increase, East Mills School District patrons will pay less in taxes beginning in the 2016 fiscal year.

Passage of the PPEL is a step in a series of short and long term goals for the cash-strapped district that has seen a dip in enrollment the last five years.

Last year, East Mills shuttered Chantry Elementary and moved the district’s elementary students (pre-K through sixth grade) to its Nishna Valley campus as part of district-wide reshuffling. At that time, the district sought the voted PPEL increase as part of a short-term plan with an eye toward a long-term goal of seeking a $12-$15 million general obligation bond to build a new pre-K- through 12th grade school in Malvern some time down the road.
Croghan has said previously the district has shelved that long-term plan until the district  shows “positive student enrollment growth.”

“The long term plan was to get to a pre-K through 12 building,” Croghan said. “When it (the PPEL) failed the first time, we knew we’d be running two buildings for the time being. In the back of our mind we know to get to a pre-K through 12 building we’ll have to have positive growth in student enrollment. But this is what we need now to meet the needs of the district short now.”

Croghan will meet with the board next week to discuss proceeding with the geo-thermal project and the new roof construction at the high school.