10-Year Bond Going Before Riverside Voters

Riverside School District voters will be asked to approve a $2.6 million modernization and technology bond measure on Feb. 3, in addition to a $4 million levy over four years.

The 10-year bond will cost district property owners $2.78 per $1,000 of assessed valuation if approved. That amounts to $278 for a $100,000 house.

That figure is the district’s current assessment rate for bond measures, said Assistant Superintendent Terry Weinmann.

Voters will also consider a four-year levy that will replace one that expires next year. State voters recently approved the use of four-year levies.

“That’s what’s important to this,” Weinmann said. “The tax rate does not increase. The four-year levy is important for stability, but this is not a tax increase.”

The district would also be eligible for $6.6 million in state matching funds for projects at Riverside elementary and middle schools. Weinmann said the district would use its own money to improve Chattaroy Elementary School.

The district will use the money from the bond issue for technology advancements, a new telephone and intercom system, cafeteria tables, parking lot paving, play and athletic fields and upgrading the girls locker room at the high school.

The four-year levy would raise more than $1 million a year and would bring in an average of $890,000 a year in state matching funds.

The money would be used for various curriculum activities and extracurricular activities, bus service and vocational programs.

, DataTimes