Bardstown city school board votes 4-1 for 4 percent tax revenue increase

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015, 7:30 p.m. — As expected, the Bardstown Board of Education approved a tax increase at its meeting Tuesday, though the vote was not unanimous.

Board member Andy Stone cast the sole vote against the 4 percent tax revenue increase approved Tuesday by the Bardstown board of education.

Board member Andy Stone said that despite Superintendent Brent Holsclaw’s valid arguments in favor of the tax hike, he would not vote for it.

“It is our job as board members to balance the wants and needs of the district with the economic realities of our constituents,” he told the board. “There’s always a useful area to dispense the budgetary windfall created by this increase in revenue.”

With the exception of 2003, the board has taken the 4 percent revenue increase every year for the past 21 years, he said.

“I don’t know when the last time a “no” vote was cast, but this year, I’ll do so and without remorse,” he said.

Holsclaw told the board that the decision was theirs to make, and the district would make the budget work regardless of how they voted.

He cautioned the board against looking at the school’s reserve funds as a way to sidestep the tax increase. Those funds are anticipated and are not actual numbers, he said.

The city school’s property tax rate will increase from 75.5 to 78.7 cents per $100 value on real estate and personal property. The rate hike will generate $8.24 million — approximately $314,000 more than last year’s tax rate.

School parent Bill Fulton identified some opportunities for improvement in how the district handles parents and student new to the community.

For a home assessed at $100,000 that was taxed at last year’s tax rate (75.5), the property owner would pay $755 in tax. With the proposed tax rate increase (78.7), that same assessed property value would mean paying $787 — an additional $32 in taxes.

The increase is not a 4 percent increase in the tax rate, but a tax rate increase that generates — districtwide — a 4 percent increase in tax revenue.

GSP/GSA. Kim Case, a Bardstown High School guidance counselor, told the board about the high schools seniors who participated this summer at the Governor’s Scholar Program (GSP) and the Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA).

The programs are highly competitive, Case said. “Only the best of the best are selected.”

Of the six applicants from the high school, three — Elayne Bischoff, Haley Harned and Larissa Heck — were selected.

Heck called GSP an eye-opening experience. Her friendship with a fellow Muslim GSP student taught her “to accept people for who they are and not what they look like or who they worship.”

Elayne Bishcoff told the board that her fellow GSP students were amazing to be around. She said she enjoyed the supportive and noncompetitive nature of the program.

Haley Harned told the board how GSP changed her outlook on life. “You learn that some questions don’t have answers, but its still important to explore your mind.”

David Ferguson attended the Governor’s School for the Arts, which is a similar but different program than GSP in that it focuses on art. Ferguson said GSA helped him learn to appreciate for his own work and the creativity of others.

Board member Franklin Hibbs IIII reacts as students who participated in the Governor’s Scholar program this summer talk about their experiences.

PARENT INPUT. Bill Fulton, a parent whose family just moved into the Bardstown School District, offered the board his insight as a parent new to both the community and the school system.

Fulton told the board there was no parent orientation handbook for parents unfamiliar with the city school district. He also offered suggestions for recruiting parent volunteers for the elementary school, and for improving school security.

In other business, the board:

— honored Lisa Hamilton for being voted “Best Teacher” by the readers of a local newspaper. Bardstown Elementary School and Bardstown Middle School were also honored as the best schools in their respective categories.

— approved a contract for a teacher to work with a primary school student with a hearing impairment; and

— reviewed the latest policy updates, which include the district’s tobacco policy that now prohibits nicotine and vapor products.

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