By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 has received bids for the $6.6 million Felten Elementary School project.
Renovations will now begin on the former middle school, which will be renovated into a four-section elementary school, Felten Elementary School.
Wilson Elementary School will close at the end of the school year, and those students will move to the newly renovated school.
After the middle school project, Nabholz returned $101,708 in unused contingency funds to the district. Those funds can now be used for the Feltern Elementary School project.
A new entry is being constructed on the northeast side of the school for the kindergarten and first grades. Bathrooms will also be constructed in the classrooms for the lower grades.
New flooring will be installed, and grading will be done for the new playground equipment.
Bond financing
Dustin Avey, managing director/co-head of public finance with Piper Sandler & Co. Public Finance Investment Banking, joined the meeting remotely to discuss bond financing.
Avey explained the revenue from the bond sale, about $7.4 million in interest from that fund and $943,000 from FEMA grant for storm shelters can be used for bond projects. This equals more tahn $165.8 million.
The sale of property could account for another $850,000.
Property and sales tax revenue go into a separate bond repayment fund. All the tax revenue and interest from that fund must go to the repayment of the bond, Avey said.
A reserve is maintained in the bond repayment fund to ensure the school district has enough funds to pay for its upcoming bond payments.
Both sales and property tax revenue can increase. Property tax revenue can increase with higher assessed valuation.
The assessed valuation during the last several years has outpaced estimates. Piper Sandler estimated $3.8 million in sales tax revenue, and the school district received $3.9 million in FY25 and is on pace to reap $4 million in sales tax revenue in FY26.
Avey said once the reserve reaches a certain point, the district can consider lowering the mill levy or paying off the bond sooner. He said the district will likely need to evaluate its reserve during the upcoming budget cycle to determine whether it has reached that point.
Avey said Piper Sandler was conservative when it set the bond's repayment schedule. However, decreases in sales or property tax revenue could also affect the mill levy.
The 0.5% sales tax used to pay off the school bond is scheduled to sunset after 10 years. If that tax is not renewed, the mill levy would need to be increased from 11 to 17 mills.
The Kansas Legislature is also considering ways to address property taxes, including caps on assessed valuation increases.