Ballot question’s language approved

Board members for the Clark County School District on Thursday approved language for a ballot question asking voters to maintain the current school bond property tax rate until 2018.

If voters approve the request in November, the district will be able to use that revenue for its second decade-long school construction program.

The district plans to spend $5.1 billion on 73 new schools: 53 elementary school, 16 middle schools and four high schools. Another $4.4 billion is earmarked for site acquisition, replacement schools, renovations and other capital projects.

The school property tax rate is $0.5534 per $100 of assessed value.

For owners of a $300,000 home, approval of the question would mean that they would continue to pay $581.07 annually for school construction. That amount would fluctuate as a residential property's assessed valuation rises or falls during the time the bond is in effect.

The $7 billion projected to be generated by keeping the tax rate at its current level would be combined with hotel room tax revenues and real estate transfer taxes to generate a total of $9.5 billion for school construction.

Clark County School District staff members were directed to make minor changes in language and grammar to the proposed question.

Also, staff members are still preparing supporting information for the bond question, including arguments for and against the request.