Why is it, when the MAJORITY of the proposed Westonka Schools’ bond is allocated for a high school remodel, the district’s description has the high school remodel listed as the last of three priorities? It lists safety/security first, misleading voters to think safety is the primary purpose of the bond. The MAJORITY of the bond is for a high school remodel, not safety and not maintenance.
Voters are being intentionally misled to believe the bond is all about safety and security. Who wouldn’t want to keep kids safe, right? See below the “Yes Westonka” (independent political committee promoting the bond) graphic from Facebook yesterday:
Did I mention this is a total of over $170 MILLION DOLLARS ($93.4M plus 5% interest for 25 years) district taxpayers will be paying back? ‘Yes Westonka’ doesn’t tell you that though. The tax calculator the district provides only calculates the first year’s property tax increase on a property, neglecting to mention it will go up, more than doubling by year nine!
Voters think they will be paying back $93.4M but in reality will be paying back over $170M.
Even the approved language that will be on the ballot buries, at the very end, what the majority of the bond is allocated for:
“Shall the school board of Independent School District No. 277 (Westonka
Public Schools) be authorized to issue its general obligation school building
bonds in an amount not to exceed $93,400,000 to provide funds for the
acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities, including the
construction of secure entrances and other safety and security
improvements at all school sites and facilities; districtwide deferred
maintenance projects, including replacement of boilers, piping and
electrical systems; the redesign, renovation and equipping of academic and
activity spaces at the Mound Westonka High School site and facility; and
the reconstruction and repair of athletic fields, tennis courts and track?“
If the school district wants to ask property owners to hand over millions of dollars, there is an obligation to tell voters the primary purpose of the bond and what the total increase in property taxes would be over its 25 years. That transparency, however, would likely jeopardize the election.
These underhanded strategies to intentionally mislead voters would never be tolerated if perpetrated by an individual or private sector corporation but for the Westonka school district it’s business as usual.
The district knows they have to hide the purpose and true cost of this bond referendum from the voters if they want it to pass. VOTE NO! STOP THE CON.
Early voting begins Friday, September 22 in Suite A of the Educational Service Center, 5901 Sunnyfield Rd. E., Minnetrista, MN. Go to the pollfinder to find out where to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7.
Minnetrista Governance Blog 
Schools are a competitive business. The school district advertises that Westonka residents have the lowest “Total School Property Taxes, Payable 2023, on a Home with an Estimated Market Value of $600,000” in Hennepin County. I don’t see you trying to refute this statistic.
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Westonka’s advertised claim is totally meaningless. The 30.2% increase from levy payable year 2023 to 2024 in Westonka’s Tax Capacity Value will be, by far, the highest of any school district in Hennepin County. The average percent increase in Tax Capacity Value of all school districts in Hennepin County was 15.9%. This explains how Westonka can claim they have a lower tax rate that other school districts. The claim is meaningless. It is more of a function of how much new home construction is taking place in the community (like Minnetrista), the median market value of single family residences (Westonka’s is high at $586,600 per page 20 in 2023 per Hennepin County’s 2023 Annual Assessment Report), the percentage of housing units with school age children (Westonka’s is lower than inner ring suburban schools), and the capture rate of eligible students attending (Westonka’s is a low 64.2% vs State Average of 73.0% per page 6 of Hazel Reinhardt’s Westonka Demographic Study). To determine how efficient a school district is in utilizing tax revenue one should look at the revenue per student for the district. Westonka has an operating cost of $14,898 per ADM (student) which puts us right in the middle of the operating costs per ADM in Hennepin County.
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If someone buys a house for $93,000 using a mortgage at %5, they never say that they paid $170,000 for the house. You only quote that statistic when you want to make it look expensive. The $170M in this proposal is not in TODAY’S DOLLARS. Future dollars are worth less than today’s dollars. At minimum, this is because inflation will erode the value of the future dollars. However, I believe the time-value of money also includes what work you could have that money do in the meanwhile. I seem to recall from the school board meeting that the %5 was an estimate, and they expected the actual contracts to come in below that. Further, there are opportunities for refinancing that debt if rates drop significantly in the future. I don’t find using the scare tactic of quoting $170M total cost to be objective analysis.
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It’s not a scare tactic (or a statistic which can be manipulated), it’s the truth that the total cost of this bond proposal is more than $170,000,000. Are you taking issue with voters being apprised of the entire debt? Would that be what you’d call “objective analysis”?
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Thank you Shannon for your well explained and thought out narration of what this school bond issue is all about and also about the long range tax ramifications for taxpayers in this district. This is something we have to find cheaper solutions to and separate the proposed work actually needed. I agree – we must VOTE NO.
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