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The Chisago Lakes School Board got some details last week on proceeding with projects which have been deferred with the exception of major work needed at the middle school.  The middle school will be a stand alone referendum in the near future, Supt. Brian Dietz stated.

The School Board and community need to have a focused conversation on the middle school later. 

The district has been working with consultants Nexus on $16.5 million in projects, identified as critical.  After their work session June 11 the full Board in regular session, directed consultants to keep putting together enough financing without a referendum.  The Board will get finer points for specifications on projects and exact effects on property tax to support tax abatement and borrowing by the July 16 Board meeting.

The must-be-done projects range from replacing a leaking cast iron line that drains the boiler at the high school, to a non-functioning paging system, outdated locker rooms and dehumidifying the gym and extending fire suppression (sprinklers.) 

In addition to the high school, other work that’s deemed critical includes;  the Board is pursuing replacing the Taylors Falls School chiller, part of the parking lot and south drive around, and the air quality (humidity)  in the T.F. old gymnasium.  

The Primary School is slated for gym dehumidifying too and repair/replacement of the paved loop/drive.   The Board heard that dehumidifying is the next best thing to air conditioning and more cost effective.

The bus garage is in need of parking lot replacement and a sanitary line project. The district owns the bus garage in Lindstrom and leases  transportation services who are utilizing the facility. 

Representatives with Ehlers public finance advisors told the Board the district can use cash on-hand, tax abatement and bond financing to get these done. An existing budget line items such as the $100,000 set aside for stadium turf replacement, can also be put into projects and redirecting about 40 percent of years of the district’s state annual long term facilities aid are also proposed.

Board Chair Lori Berg asked about staff’s comfort level  in draining the LTFM fund by almost half, (earmarking it for debt service.)

Business Services Director Robyn Vosberg-Torgerson said the amount of Long Term Facilities and Maintenance Fund aid the district ends up relying on to go towards debt service will be carefully calculated and monitored.  There are often  emergency needs the district can only tap into allowed by  state law that the LTFM monies may be dedicated to.

Superintendent Brian Dietz told the full Board at its work session June 11 to expect a “middle school only referendum in the future,”  

Chisago Lakes has seen a $60 million referendum ballot defeated and a $23 million pared down version defeated in recent years.  The plan now is to redirect whatever funds are allowed to be used to the greatest extent  possible and reduce the size of borrowing. 

The district approach has $5 million from Long Term Facilities Management revenues, and a planned tax abatement of about $7 million and an estimated $179,000 in the bank  earmarked now for the high school paging system replacement.

Supt. Dietz said the Board has this summer to fine tune details in order for the first property tax collections to begin to be paid in 2027.  

To enact tax abatement financing a public hearing must be held tentatively in August.  Sometime in winter 2027 Dietz would request a citizen committee be named to nail down specific referendum needs for the middle school.

Board member Jeff Lindeman asked if the district is “tapping into all that it can tap into” to leverage outside funds for these projects Chisago Lakes has multiple levies in effect that are supporting the budget for various special needs like $2 million for roofing.  Some large older debts fall off the payment schedule by 2038.  

Ehlers presented one approach to “wrap around” the proposed bonding, keeping the impact to taxes as low as possible in the years 2027 to 2037.

Everything depends on what the Board adopts as a final projects’ list, the length of borrowing,  and interest rates and probably legislative factors could play a role.  

Vosberg Togerson presented the first version of the 2027 budget which she said puts the district in good shape.  Fund balances will be purposely spent down as part of the $49 million budget.

The district projects per pupil funds to increase by 2.69 percent (from the state) and special education aid is increasing by about $200,000.  The "compensatory" revenue though is dropping by $150,000.

The business services director also cautioned the Board district enrollment has dipped 313 pupils since 2020.  State income is distributed based on enrollment among other calculations.

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