BRYSON – School board members hired John Blackburn with Live Oak Public Finance to be the district’s financial advisor during the July 25 meeting.
The company represents 160 districts across the State, including several rural districts like Bryson. Area districts include Bridgeport, Peaster, and Breckenridge.
Blackburn gave a detailed look on how the district’s Interest and Sinking (I-S) tax rate could drop if Hecate Energy, which filed an application to put a solar plant on the district’s tax rolls. The company explained its proposal to board members during a meeting earlier this year.
Blackburn said solar plants depreciate more quickly than wind farms so it was important for the district to jump in while the “iron was hot”. Right now, the plant is expected to be on tax rolls in 2029 but it could be sooner depending on when the plant gets built.
Discussion ranged on many topics, including dropping the I-S tax rate eight cents, which would save homeowners $80/year per $100,000 of taxable valuation. Keeping the I-S tax rate the same, however, would save the district $698,000 and allow for potential bond retirement up to three years sooner.
Nothing was determined or approved during the 90-minute presentation.
The board did approve dropping the 2022-2023 tax rate from $1.40 down to $1.38 per $100 valuation. The new tax rate is expected to raise $2,741,128 with the rest of the funding coming from state and federal monies.
In other news during the three-hour meeting:
• State FFA President Windsor Godfrey, a 2022 Bryson grad, spoke to the board about her experiences far. Godfrey will be deferring her first year at West Texas A&M to go around the State, speaking to three schools a day and giving workshops on FFA.
She traveled to both Washington, D.C. and Austin for summits and learned how to give stronger workshops and be a better facilitator as well as how to be a state officer.
• Board members approved student and staff handbooks for the upcoming year.
• Approved Principal Gary Kirby and Superintendent Greg London as TTESS appraisers for the upcoming year and also a calendar for when teachers could expect to be appraised.
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