Dayton to Hold Public Meeting on Levy Proposal

DAYTON – The Dayton School Board has scheduled a public informational meeting for Wednesday, March 4, to provide background on the proposed capital-improvement levy planned for an April 10 election. The regular board meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. with the public meeting at 7 p.m.

The board had planned to take official action last week and decide on the language of the $800,000 ballot measure; that vote was postponed again after the board requested that the planned projects be described as critical to “safety, security and efficiency,” according to Superintendent Doug Johnson.

The levy, as currently conceived, would be on a two-year collection cycle, Johnson said. The estimated cost to taxpayers would be 66 cents per thousand dollar valuation each year, in 2016 and in 2017.

The board plans to use the levy money, if approved by voters, to address a number of projects identified in a study and survey completed in 2014. Among these are replacing entry and exit doors, roof projects, updating the phone and other communication systems, irrigation system for watering district grounds and athletic facilities, repairs to the elementary asphalt playground and roof, and campus-wide sidewalk repairs.

“The costs are estimates only,” Johnson said in January. “And we did build in a 10-percent contingency. If there is money left over after the projects planned, we’ve been discussing what to do with the extra such as continuing to add to our security camera system with the purchase of more cameras, for example.”

This levy proposal is much smaller than the bond rejected by voters last year, which asked for $25 million for major renovations and changes to district facilities.