S.F. school board OKs bond vote

District seeks approval in Feb. of $9.6M for technology

The Santa Fe school board voted unanimously Tuesday to hold a special election in February asking voters to approve renewal of a property tax to raise about $11 million a year for the district’s technological needs.

The district will have to pay about $180,000 for the election — money it hopes to recoup.

As the state prepares to enact the new Local Election Act, which will combine all nonpartisan local elections into one larger election in the November of oddnumbered years, the Legislature could approve a measure providing one-time funds for special mail ballot elections before November 2019.

If voters approve the ballot question in February, Santa Fe Public Schools will avoid facing a funding gap for the year of about $9.6 million for technology,

Charter schools within the boundaries of the Santa Fe school district would get about $1.4 million for the year.

Loss of those funds “would mean laying off staff. It would mean an interruption of services, of software licenses, etc.,” Superintendent Veronica García told the school board. “It would have a significant negative impact on our edu-

cational technology program.”

The February election, only for the tax question, would not affect the makeup of the school board. The five members now sitting on the board will remain in their seats until November 2019, when three seats expire.

The Local Elections Act was an effort to ease voting and boost turnout in what had been small, local elections for school boards, soil and water conservation districts, community colleges and towns across New Mexico, each held on a different date.

In the past decade, Santa Fe school board and bond elections have never drawn more than 10 percent of those eligible to vote. Voters who did cast ballots in the district consistently supported bond requests and property tax levies — often by a wide margin.

Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque, and state Rep. Paul Bandy, R-Aztec, co-sponsored the election-consolidation bill that was passed into law earlier this year.

But not every entity affected by the new law favors it.

Many public school leaders have argued that some provisions would place burdensome costs on districts that choose to hold special mail-ballot elections in February or would dilute voter support of school bond issues thrown into a larger mix of ballot questions and local races.

Ivey-Soto said earlier this year the Legislature might be willing to come up with funds to repay districts that opt to finance bond elections in February.

The Santa Fe school board did not discuss the issue much Tuesday, but it held a study session

earlier this month to review the pros and cons of a special election. During that meeting, board President Steven Carrillo said, “We can’t afford a [funding] gap. … We don’t have the money. We can’t come up with over $9 million.”

Meanwhile, the board decided in a unanimous vote earlier this year to ask the New Mexico School Boards Association and the other 88 districts to jointly request that lawmakers amend the Local Elections Act to effectively exempt districts from the measure.

It’s unclear if the Legislature, when it convenes for a 60-day session in mid-January, would even consider such a move.