By Pete Kendall/reporter@trcle.com

KEENE — If Keene ISD voters say yes to a tax ratification election Nov. 3, the total tax rate will be $1.3823 per $100 valuation. If the voters say no, the tax rate will still be $1.3823 per $100 valuation.

The difference is almost $800,000.

How can that be so?

Keene Superintendent Kevin Sellers told the crowd at Thursday’s Keene Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon that the school district is asking voters to swap 13 cents from the interest and sinking portion of the tax rate for 13 cents on the maintenance and operation side.

That would take the interest and sinking portion to 21 cents and the maintenance and operation to $1.17.

M and O pennies are worth more than I and S pennies, partly because M and O can be used to service the debt.

Taking the M and O from $1.04 to $1.17 will mean $776,000 extra to the district.

Keene ISD will need the $776,000 in two years when federal stimulus funds of $373,333 go away, Sellers said.

Those funds are only for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years. Most of that is presently designated for teacher salaries and various unfunded mandates.

Keene ISD cannot take care of the unfunded orders from Austin without the stimulus money unless voters approve the tax swap.

But the issue is slightly stickier than that.

Keene ISD has to hedge its bets, Sellers said, by asking for a $1.51 total in case voters deny the tax swap. The trustees have gone on the record as saying that if the ratification election passes, they will immediately drop 13 cents from the $1.51 — thus the $1.38.

Sellers is getting the word to the voters through newspaper stories, school open houses and civic club presentations.

“I’ve already talked to the junior high and high school parents,” he said. “I have also scheduled meetings to discuss it with every staff member. We’ve discussed it at board meetings, and we will also plan an evening when we can have a public meeting, most likely at the high school cafeteria.”

Historically, superintendents are hesitant to predict how voters will line up. Joshua passed a tax ratification last year. Crowley’s failed.

“The difference in Joshua and Crowley is that Joshua did the same thing we’re doing, a tax swap,” Sellers said. “Crowley’s was a straight tax-rate election.

They raised their maintenance and operation to $1.17 but did nothing with their debt rate.

“What we’re doing is raising our M and O 13 pennies, but then we’ll come back and lower the I and S 13 pennies. The feedback we’re getting is very positive. The confusing part is that on the ballot, we’re asking the voters to approve $1.51. We have to educate the voters to approve the $1.51 in order for us to be able to come back after the election and lower the debt rate to bring the tax rate back to $1.38.”

That is a promise from the trustees, he said.

“It’s in the printed public notices, and it’s in the board meeting minutes,” Sellers said. “I’d say we are legally bound by that. The board members are Keene ISD taxpayers. They want to be able to have the lowest tax rate possible and be able to increase state funding by maximizing our local effort.

“If this doesn’t pass, we’ll be leaving $776,000 on the table. This is a way we can generate [money] for the district without raising anybody’s taxes.”

The trustees, after consultation with the Johnson County tax assessor’s office, learned that the district must have 34 cents in I and S taxes to pay the debt service.

“So, if we were approve a tax rate of $1.17 for M and O and drop the I and S to 21 cents, and the election was not successful, then we would drop back to $1.04 M and O, and we could not pay our bills with $1.04 and 21 cents. We have to ask the voters for what we need for the debt rate, which is 34 cents.”

Sellers has accepted an assistant superintendent’s post at Joshua when Keene ISD is able to release him from his contract. The Nov. 3 election may be his last hurrah.

“It really doesn’t have anything to do with what I want to be known for,” Sellers said, “It’s that I still have heart for Keene ISD. We started the construction, which was a very positive thing. My goal is to make Keene ISD as financially sound as possible. This is something I feel is important for the future of Keene ISD, whether I’m here or not.”