Harlingen residents split on school bond issue

Residents appear divided over a proposal to issue $98.6 million in school bonds to pay for renovations and facilities including a ninth-grade academy, a new middle school, an aquatic center and a performing arts center.

Voters will decide the issue in a May 8 election.

The school district on Thursday held one of several public forums in which residents can ask questions about the proposed bonds, to be paid over the next 30 years.

Two Texas Education Agency grants would cover half of the bonds’ debt, schools Superintendent Steve Flores said. He said the bonds would not be issued if the state grants did not come through. The filing deadline for the grants is June 1, he said.

The district’s annual tax rate of $1.125 per $100 valuation would be raised by 9.7 cents if the issue passes. Currently, school taxes on a $50,000 home are about $562. Increased taxes would add about $50 annually to that amount.

Residents who attended Thursday’s meeting were divided on the proposal.

Harlingen resident and Santa Rosa teacher Charlie Zeissel, referring to funding for the aquatic center, artificial turf for Boggus Stadium and a performing arts theater, said the proposal calls for "a lot of fluff."

Zeissel said he would act as a "one man crusade" raising awareness about why residents should vote down the bond issue. He said that, by making the bonds contingent on state funding, the school district has shown that the projects proposed for funding are "unnecessary."

Flores rebutted at the meeting, saying the district would eventually address each issue with or without the bonds.

Zeissel also said businesses would likely raise prices as a result of increased taxes.

"They’re not telling us about that happening," he said. "They’re trying to put the best spin on it they can."

But Edelmira Sanchez, a local resident and mother of two Harlingen students, shared a different perspective.

"I think it’s a good idea," she said. "There is need for a lot of repairs and things that outside people might not see. As a parent and as a taxpayer I don’t mind investing my money in my child’s education."

The proposal calls for $18.6 million for elementary schools; $50 million for secondary schools; $27.8 million for other facilities and $2.2 million for technology improvements. The bonds will not cover hiring of the still-undetermined number of teachers and staff at new facilities, Oscar Tapia, assistant district operations superintendent, said.