Forum Editorial:
EDITORIAL MUG: Editorial art Vertical
On April 2, voters across the county will decide on three major ballot issues.
Every voter in the county will have the chance to vote on whether to implement a 3/8-cent countywide sales tax to fund 911 dispatch operations.
Voters in the Maryville R-II School District will consider Proposition JUMP, a $23 million no-tax-increase bond issue that would pay for a variety of major capital improvements.
And voters in the West Nodaway R-I School District will vote on Proposition K.I.D.S., a $2 million no-tax-increase bond that would allow for critical repairs.
You can read about those issues in detail and the candidates in contested races in our election coverage in the news section. We encourage every voter to read up on every issue and race that will appear on their ballot and form their own conclusions about what’s best for their community when going to the polls.
Like anyone else, we’ve done the same, discussing these three ballot questions internally and with our Editorial Board to help inform our opinions.
Here’s why we support all three.
911 sales tax
We could not endorse the 911 sales tax more wholeheartedly, and hope that every Nodaway County resident will join us in voting for this important measure that will secure vital emergency communications operations for decades to come.
Combining the dispatch operations for the city and county had been the goal for decades of emergency personnel and city and county leaders. Finally, after those decades of painstaking work and waiting for the stars to align, the dispatch operations were merged in 2020 with the opening of the Northwest Regional Communications Center in the R. Keith Wood Public Safety Facility.
The new operation has streamlined communications for first responders and the modernized infrastructure at the NRCC allows for growth into the future in ways that simply weren’t possible before, like a text-to-911 system that would allow people to text 911 in an emergency instead of call. Additionally, the center has the space to grow into its regional mandate, which it began in 2022 when it took on Worth County dispatch operations as well.
It’s an unqualified success for our entire region. But there’s one step remaining: making sure we fund it.
Currently, the only dedicated funding source for dispatch operations is through a landline tax. Obviously, as landlines become a thing of the past, that revenue has largely dried up — it generated only $217,488 last year and is estimated to produce only $84,500 this year, according to the Joint 911 Oversight Board, which is far short of the just over $1 million it costs annually to run the dispatch center.
The difference is coming from the city and county governments — about $800,000 every year that was meant to be spent on roads, staff salaries, repairs, and anything else that the city and county governments are otherwise responsible for.
The 3/8-cent sales tax is a small price to pay for the peace of mind that comes with quality emergency services. And on top of that, it means that the rest of our tax dollars can go where they were originally intended before we all started ditching our landlines.
We believe this is a no-brainer, and the final step in ensuring no matter where you are in Nodaway County, as long as you can dial 9-1-1 on your cellphone, help will always be only a call — or even a text — away.
Proposition JUMP
We believe Proposition JUMP will result in safer students, a better learning environment and sorely needed infrastructure upgrades, and those of us who live in the Maryville R-II School District look forward to casting our votes in favor of it on April 2.
However, the district has not done itself any favors in its messaging, which has been muddled and vague, lacking a clear focus about why the wide range of projects included in the $23 million bond are actually needed — or even what all of them are, exactly.
At Eugene Field Elementary and the Maryville Early Childhood Center, the bond would allow for:
Construction of a new, two-story east end of the elementary with larger, modernized classrooms, moving the Early Childhood Center to the west side
New, secure entrances
Larger, safer visitor and accessible parking and improved pickup/drop-off area
At the middle school:
The outdated HVAC system will be replaced
New “small group learning spaces” and furniture will replace outdated computer desks at the center of each grade-level wing
At the high school:
The main entrance will be moved to the west side, adjacent to the cafeteria, where an administrator, a receptionist and the school resource officer will be located and control access to the building
A parking island will be added to the main parking lot to help slow and control traffic
The cafeteria and the hallway next to the gym will be renovated
Artificial turf will be installed at the football field and the baseball/softball field
Last month, board member Isaiah Korthanke and President Josh McKim raised concerns that they had heard from some teachers about losing the open classrooms and the open space of the kiva, currently at the east end of the elementary and preschool, which would be torn down to make way for the new, two-story expansion.
The bond proposal would connect the classrooms with large, swinging, panel doors that can lock — a safety feature in a day and age where every school must be a compartmentalized fortress in addition to a welcoming learning space — and also add a common area for the preschool. We think these are reasonable compromises that err on the proper side of safety.
The board members also wanted to know if the second story could simply be built into the old Eugene Field gymnasium rather than tearing down the MECC and starting over.
While Mr. McKim was satisfied with the explanations and supports the bond issue, Mr. Korthanke has said he will vote against the measure, preferring to at least explore an alternative plan that would at this point necessitate delaying the bond and bringing up the issue as what would be a new tax later.
Although we believe the board members did the right thing by voicing their concerns, even at the 11th hour, these issues should have been addressed last summer or fall, not a few weeks before the election.
This wholly unforced error only further muddles what this bond issue is about, why it’s needed and how exactly the district got here.
But we urge voters to look at what the bond will actually pay for, and judge for themselves whether it’s a good thing for students, teachers and parents.
A new, more secure, structurally sound elementary and preschool with larger classrooms? Less cramped and safer parking, pickup and drop-off zones? Yes, we believe those are essential improvements that need to be added immediately.
Replacing an HVAC system at the middle school that is well beyond its expected lifespan? Yes, that needs to be done right now.
A more secure entrance to the high school where the school resource officer and the administration office have line-of-sight to the main door? Yes, that certainly sounds like the kind of thing that makes you wonder how it isn’t that way already — please do it.
A parking island to help impose order onto the daily melee the high school parking lot is currently? Yes, it’s surprising there haven’t been more crashes or injuries already, let’s get this done.
With such a variety of projects included in the proposal, it’s understandable that everyone could find something in it that they aren’t satisfied with. But the bottom line is, Proposition JUMP makes our schools safer, better and more conducive to learning for the 21st century.
We will have no qualms about voting yes on April 2, and we encourage all Maryville R-II voters to do the same.
Proposition K.I.D.S.
School districts frequently use catchy acronyms for whatever ballot issue they’re trying to pass, but West Nodaway’s Proposition K.I.D.S. is perhaps more aptly named than most, because to vote against this proposition is to vote against the kids in the district — plain and simple.
The $2 million no-tax-increase bond will go toward the most essential of essential infrastructure repairs and improvements: replacing roofs that have “extensive” leaks, adding insulation where there currently isn’t any, replacing the outdated HVAC systems at the high school with more cost-effective and plain old effective heat pumps, and repairing the sewer line that makes the kitchen smell like — well, it doesn’t smell great.
Traditionally, West Nodaway voters have been a tough sell on any bonds or levy increases, so the administration in place there now is not in a position to be vague about what exactly the bond will pay for.
In 2022, for example, it took three tries for voters to finally approve an absolutely essential $1 levy increase that allowed West Nodaway to raise teacher pay to a level commensurate with the rest of the region, instead of dead last. District leaders got that increase over the finish line by staying united and laser-focused on exactly what the money would be spent on and the consequences if the increase wasn’t passed.
Despite that, and the dire need, the increase still only passed with 55 percent of the vote — not enough to clear the higher, 4/7 majority needed to pass a bond like Proposition K.I.D.S.
But we believe Proposition K.I.D.S. is just as important, and the district’s leadership has done all it can to keep this no-tax-increase bond just as laser-focused on core issues that cannot be ignored.
By necessity, the West Nodaway School District is led by a conscientious group both on the school board and in school administration, and any community members who think they can smell reckless spending there are probably just catching a whiff of whatever that is coming out of the kitchen sewer drain.
But don’t get us wrong — this bond issue is serious business, and serves as yet another referendum on whether West Nodaway residents are truly interested in having a school. Because if you vote against fixing the leaky roof and keeping the sewer line from backing up, what are we really doing here?
There’s only one choice for kids at West Nodaway to have the bare minimum they need to focus on learning: vote yes on Proposition K.I.D.S.
WHAT IS A ‘NO-TAX
INCREASE’ BOND?
Just like the name suggests, a no-tax-increase bond means that the tax levy won’t go up from where it is now. Commonly what happens is an existing bond is about to be paid off, and so a school district will put a bond on the ballot at a figure that would not require a tax rate hike in order to pay for it. That does mean that if a no-tax-increase bond fails to pass, the district’s tax rate will go down at some point in the near future, though not necessarily immediately since there’s usually a built-in cushion period. Bonds require a 4/7 majority vote to pass, or a little over 57 percent.
