Clever seeks tax levy transfer for early childhood center

Denise Golubski: Proposed transfer does not change tax rate.

Brian Breeden: Funds will help maintain competitive staff pay.

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The Clever R-V School District is asking voters to reconfigure how local taxpayer funds are allocated to free up money for an early childhood center and day-to-day expenses such as teacher salaries.

The current property tax levy is $4.62 per $100 of assessed valuation with $3.29 earmarked for operating expenses and $1.33 going to pay down debt.

On the April 7 ballot, the district will ask for permission to transfer 40 cents from its debt-service fund to operating. Passage requires support from more than half of voters during the election.

If approved, the overall tax rate of $4.62 will remain the same, but the split will be different, with 93 cents going to debt and $3.69 for operating.

“We’ve been trying to be very transparent about what we’re using it for, why we need it,” said Denise Golubski, communications director for the Christian County district, in a Feb. 26 interview. “We’re trying to make sure people understand that this is not a new tax.”

Golubski said the transfer does not increase taxes, it changes how the revenue can be used.

“It’s very much like when we’re planning our budget at home and we need to do something, how do we do we do that? If we have money in savings, we can switch money from savings to checking and be able to use it in that way,” she said. “The funds are there. They are not new funds. We just need the permission from the voters to be able to transfer that money from one fund to another.”

District officials said approval of the transfer will result in $490,000 a year going to the operating fund instead of the debt fund.

In April 2024, Clever voters approved a $16 million bond issue. District officials said efforts to pay said aggressively paying down previous debt cleared the way to request a transfer.

“The way that our payments are structured, it really doesn’t start hitting for a few more years down the road,” said Superintendent Brian Breeden in a Feb. 26 interview. “That allows us some flexibility to move 40 cents from our debt-service to operating.”

The repayment of bonds is typically structured over a 20-year period with payment and interest amounts set at the front end. It is not uncommon for districts to pay off a bond earlier to create more flexibility.

Breeden said First Baptist Church is constructing a new campus, and pastor Luke Harding had an idea about what to do with the existing building at 105 Kennedy Ave.

“They approached us about being able to purchase that,” he said, adding the final price is still being negotiated.

He said the district expects the entire project, the purchase price and renovations, to cost $1 million, or slightly more. Clever is working with Buxton Kubik Dodd Design Collective on various renovation options.

Breeden said the 1,300-student district has been interested in having a standalone early childhood center for years.

He said if the district buys the church by the end of 2026, three early childhood classrooms and the Parents as Teachers program will move into the new space at the start of the 2027-28 year, if renovations are complete.

“Early childhood education lays the foundation for long-term success,” Breeden said. “This proposal allows us to create a dedicated early childhood center designed specifically for our youngest learners. It also provides a dedicated space for Parents as Teachers, strengthening the ability to support families.”

Clever’s PAT program currently serves 186 families, a total of 270 children from birth to kindergarten.

For districts, employee salaries and benefits represent the largest share of operating expenses.

Breeden said the district was able to increase its starting teacher pay from $34,500 to $40,000, and freeing up operating funds will help the district continue to offer a competitive compensation package.

He said the district has also worked to increase starting pay for support staff.

“Our goal was just to raise everyone, and I think we’re really close…across the board with those increases, which was a heavy lift for us,” he said. “But it is one of those things, we want to invest in our staff.”