The Caesar Rodney School District holds its first referendum in eight years next month.
The referendum on Saturday, April 22 has three main components, and seeks revenue increases across three years – 2024-2026.
The first objective is replacing a 25-year old HVAC system at Magnolia Middle School. The total replacement cost is just under $14 million – $3 million funded by the district and $11 million from the state. CR Superintendent Christine Alois says this requires no increase in taxes.
“So this certificate of necessity, though it will not increase the current tax rate for our community, it does need approval to go through," Alois says. "And what happens is, on these large, on these major capital projects, the state kicks in, in this case, $11 million.”
The second component seeks a 24.5 cent property tax increase in year one and two cents in years two and three to cover operating costs at Magnolia Middle and David E. Robinson Elementary. They are the districts’ two newest schools and they opened in FY2022 with no operating budget.
The final request seeks a 52.5 cent increase in year one and 9 cents in years two and three to cover rising operating expenses - such as staff and transportation.
Alois says the district is currently digging into its reserves to pay for these things.
“We obviously don’t want to be doing that, we want to have that for exactly what it's meant for, as a reserve," Alois says. "And we want to be able to look to the future. We have a new strategic plan, how are we able to work on the goals of that strategic plan? We are constantly looking at school safety and areas that we need to continue to support there.”
If both requests pass, the tax rate increases will amount to $211.58 for the average tax payer in the first year, and $36.27 in the second and third years.
