Local funds make up more than half of the Raymore-Peculiar School District budget.

The District's current overall property tax levy of $5.0302 per $100 of assessed valuation includes the operating tax levy and the debt service tax levy. The current operating tax levy ($3.9981) funds operational expenses, such as teacher and staff salaries, supplies and services. Current debt service tax levy ($1.0321) funds are used to pay interest and principal payments for general obligation bonds issued for voter-approved bond projects.

When the debt service levy transfer question appears on the ballot, the District is asking voters: Can we shift existing tax contributions from one levy to the other, without changing the overall tax rate? The April ballot reflects the District's intention to increase the operating tax levy by 50 cents over three years and decrease the debt service tax levy by the same amount over three years to accomplish no net impact to the overall tax levy.

Our ballot language proposes an increase of 50 cents to our operating levy over a three-year period and a corresponding decrease of 50 cents to our debt service levy to accomplish no overall impact to the current tax levy under current state law.

The Board of Education's decision comes after much research and discussion about how to recruit and retain staff, which was identified by the School Board, staff, and the public as a top priority in the Strategic Plan. This included input from the Citizens' Advisory Committee, Team Ray-Pec, parents, and District staff.

The levy transfer is designed as a no tax rate increase approach to ensuring the school district can offer competitive staff compensation. In recent years, neighboring districts have taken voter-approved actions such as levy transfers and increases to invest in salary schedules. Other districts are placing similar items on the ballot for this election cycle. Reallocating additional revenue to the operating fund would allow the district to increase staff compensation as part of the district’s goal of recruiting and retaining quality staff.  

Salary recommendations in the Ray-Pec School District are made each year with input from Team Ray-Pec (a district-wide team of employees) before being presented to the Board of Education for consideration each spring. This collaborative process will determine the allocation of additional revenue for salaries should voters approve a levy transfer in April. At the same time, Team Ray-Pec offers input on employee benefits.

The debt service levy supports future facility needs by providing funds to meet expenses for the general obligation bonds issued to cover capital projects such as new schools and building renovations.

While a levy transfer impacts the District’s future bonding capacity — how much the district can borrow in the future for bond projects — the District has robust methods for capital planning and facility needs that take this transfer into consideration. Voter approval of a levy transfer does not change the terms or rates associated with previously issued debt.

Debt service levy transfers require a simple majority for voter approval.

The deadline to register to vote for the April election is March 8, 2023.