East St. Louis 189 considering $29 million in long-delayed school upgrades

The East St. Louis school board is considering selling up to $29 million in working cash fund bonds — a move that could affect future property tax rates — for school projects its superintendent said are long overdue.

The list includes renovating the high school auditorium, parking lot additions at multiple schools, renovating the high school cafeteria and new softball and baseball fields as well as other high school athletic infrastructure improvements.

“These projects … are desperately needed, and we feel our tax base will support it,” Superintendent Arthur Culver said at January’s board meeting.

At the following board meeting Tuesday, the board approved a resolution of intent to sell no more than $29 million in working cash fund bonds. It can later choose to issue less than this amount, district spokesperson Sydney Stigge-Kaufman said.

Bonds are a form of debt the district takes on and promises to pay back over a certain period of time with interest. It may use what it receives from property taxes to help make the payments, but Culver said the impact on the tax rate would not be “extremely significant.”

Stifel is facilitating the bond issuance process for the district. At January’s board meeting, Stifel managing director Anne Noble presented estimated property tax impacts for multiple borrowing scenarios.

Culver said at the January board meeting that superintendents are having preliminary conversations about bringing a sales tax for specific education uses to voters. The revenue the district could generate from the sales tax, if it were to come to fruition, could fully or partially pay off the debt from the new bond issuances, leaving less of a tax burden on local property owners.

At this time, though, there is no guarantee such a tax will even make it on the ballot or when.

Why do East St. Louis schools need $29M?

New bond issuances may be used to fund a variety of projects that currently don’t have funding. Here’s what the school board and Holland Construction discussed at the January board meeting:

• High school athletic facilities improvements: Two softball fields and two baseball fields may be constructed, each with synthetic turf, pre-fabricated dugouts, lighting and scoreboards. A grass football practice field could join them, along with a structure for ticket sales, batting cages, restrooms and storage. The existing retirement home could be demolished to put a new parking lot put in its place. The athletics improvements are the most costly of the new bond projects at an estimated $17.1 million, Holland showed at the meeting.
• High school auditorium renovations to update the old facility.
• Parking lots - Annette Officer Elementary, James Avant Elementary, the high school, Dr. Katie Harper-Wright Elementary and Vivian Adams Early Childhood Center need additional parking. Asphalt may be added where grassy areas are now.
• High school cafeteria renovations - More seating space would reduce the number of lunch periods needed. There could also be a new food service line and equipment updates.

What’s next?

District 189 could issue the bonds without voter approval via what’s often called a “backdoor referendum.”

Under this process, district residents can force a referendum by submitting a petition signed by 10% of the district’s registered voters within 30 days of the resolution of intent being published in a local newspaper.

The resolution is expected to be published in the East St. Louis Monitor on Thursday, Stigge-Kaufman said. The board will hold a public hearing on the bond issuance at its next meeting on March 18, she said.