Milford hoping voters change their minds on referendum
The Milford School District goes to voters Tuesday seeking approval for $20 million in borrowing to pay its share of a proposed $69 million new high school, as well as a property tax increase for operating costs.
A referendum on the proposed tax hikes will be held 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday. Polling locations are the Morris Early Childhood Center, Lulu M. Ross Elementary, Mispillion Elementary and Benjamin Banneker Elementary.
If the measure passes, Milford will build a new high school on the south side of the city, across Route 113 from the Redner's supermarket. The current high school building would become a junior high, serving seventh and eighth grade students. With the breathing room a new building provides, the district would also be able devote more classroom space to its elementary grades.
The spending proposal comes about a year after voters rejected a smaller borrowing request of $12.9 million for a new middle school, as well as an operating-expenses tax increase. The district boarded up a decades-old middle school last year because it was in such poor condition the state refused to spend any more money repairing it. In general, Delaware pays for 70 percent of school construction and local districts fund the remaining 30 percent.
In March 2014, 55 percent of voters said no to building a new middle school on the site of the old one, and 58 percent opposed the current expenses tax increase.
An advocacy group, Buccaneer Tomorrow, is working with the school district to convince voters that this year's initiative is worth it.
About 1,100 students attend Milford High School. The proposed building, reflecting estimates from the Department of Education, is designed to accommodate 1,400 children.
The current expense tax rate proposal calls for three years of stepped increases. The district straddles Sussex and Kent counties, and has different rates for each because assessment practices differ in each county, but the rates would rise about 39 percent after the third year to better cover the district's annual expenses.
Since the 2010-11 school year, the money Milford had left over as a percentage of what it spent for the year has fallen from 16 percent to 8 percent, Department of Education figures show.
In fiscal 2018, the combined tax increases for current expenses and construction would add $16 a month to a typical homeowner's tax bill, supporters calculate. The construction-related tax amount would then gradually fall as the bond interest is paid off before disappearing in 2038.
Marvin Schelhouse, president of the Milford Board of Education, said the high school proposal reflects comments made by school staff, students, parents and the public after the 2014 referendum was rejected.
"This will also alleviate the overcrowding we're experiencing in our elementary schools. Take a drive around Milford, on the outskirts — houses all over the place," Schelhouse said Friday. "When you look out into the future, this is the right way to go."
Opponents of the measure say the district hasn't shown a brand-new school building is necessary.
"The school board and its supporters have failed to present effective reasons to vote for a 64 percent tax increase," said Spyro Stamat, of Lincoln, in a commentary published by the 9-12 Delaware Patriots, a conservative group. "The well is dry."
Contact James Fisher at (302) 983-6772, on Twitter @JamesFisherTNJ or jfisher@delawareonline.com.