School board considers transfer of reserve funds
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School Board is considering transferring $5.5 million from the district’s reserve fund to address safety and security matters across the district.
“I think we have enough money in the reserves to do this,” said board President Eric Stones during a regular meeting on Thursday. “We have a responsibility to the community for safety issues.”
The safety issues at stake involve connecting Longview Elementary School to the Moses Lake city sewer and water systems — currently, the school has a septic tank that is “at capacity” — and repaving the tennis courts at Moses Lake High School, several of which have reportedly become unusable.
According to Eric Johnson, district operations director, it would cost $75,000 to connect Longview to sewer and water, while it would cost between $500,000 to $1.1 million to redo the tennis courts, depending on the surface the district chose.
“We are also upgrading the cameras in the high school, that’s about $75,000, but that’s coming from the general fund,” Johnson said.
Stones said the district is sitting on a reserve fund of nearly $20 million, which according to the board’s own policies and guidance from the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), is too high.
According to Stones, the current reserve is 12 percent of the annual budget, while board policy seeks a reserve of 8.5 percent — enough to fund district operations for a month without any state funding.
“There is too much in the reserve, we can do this,” Stones said.
However, several board members were concerned about spending reserve funds given the current uncertainty over levels of state funding and a looming April 24 vote on the next school levy, which may face a tough battle given the mood of many district voters.
“When you say there is enough in our account to deal with this, we have a levy coming up, and will that pass?” asked board member Vicky Groff. “I’m very concerned about what we are facing going forward. I do understand there are things we need to get going on, but today is not the day.”
However, any proposed transfer of district reserve funds would also need to be approved by the OSPI, which would add several weeks to the process. And once transferred to the general fund, that money could not be moved back if it wasn’t needed.
“There are too many ifs in this equation, we have reserves for a reason,” said board member Susan Freeman.
While the board voted four to one, with Groff the lone opponent, to research the cost of the repairs and upgrades, all five members were unanimous that the upcoming school levy needed to be passed.
The levy, which under current law will be capped at $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, will raise around $6 million to fund music, art, athletics, counseling, and other school services the state does not pay for. If passed by simple majority, it will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2019, and last for three years.
The Grant County Auditor’s Office will start to mail ballots to district residents on March 25.
“Please don’t wait if you’re going to vote yes,” Groff said.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.
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