5-09-2023 10:43pm

General Obligation Bond Yes, Mil Levies No in APS Special Election

Chris Edwards Editor

The Alamogordo Public Schools Board agreed to ask the community to renew its commitment to the amazing students and staff of APS. A special election ended on May 9, 2023 with mail in ballots for the General Obligation Bond, SB9 Mill Levy, and HB33 Mill Levy.

Both the GO bonds and mill levies are voter-supported means of funding projects for public schools through property taxes. According to an APS presentation, GO bonds allow school districts to borrow funds and take on debt by selling bonds and the mill levies are a means of financing based on revenue from property tax.

Past GO bonds funded new construction projects like Holloman Elementary and Sunset Hills. One of the most expensive projects in 2023 was the replacement of Chaparral middle school which cost $16,363,590 compared to the nearly $5,000,000 on projects for Desert Star elementary, according to APS.

“A GO bond is like a mortgage for a school, so we go out and ask for that money for the schools. In 2019 we asked for $17 million and this year we are asking for $15 million, and we pay that back over time,” said Michelle Birdeaux, communications director for APS in a prior interview.

According to Alamogordo Public Schools SB 9 funded desks and furniture in classrooms, band equipment and HVAC replacements. HB 33 funded Chrome books for students in schools across the district.

“The mill levies are related to our property taxes, and they are a small little percentage that you pay based on the value of your property, your home, or your business," Birdeaux said. "The SB 9 we utilize it for all our infrastructure improvements and security upgrades, and HB33 we utilize these funds for technology, improving fiber optics in chrome books, software and hardware.”

The leadership of APS has been out in the community educating the public on the importance of the special election. The results are in and the General Obligation Bond passed by 90 votes. Both Mill levies failed one by 911 votes one by 940 votes.

The Alamogordo Public Schools posted the following response on their Facebook page…

“Thank you! Our community agreed to support our students with the success of our General Obligation bond election tonight!

As promised, we will be getting to work this summer to make improvements to our existing facilities. We appreciate you!” - APS

Assistant Superintendent Colleen Tagle issued the following statement exclusively to Alamogordo TownNews.com…

“We are incredibly grateful to our community for passing the incredibly important GO bond!
This will allow us to get right to work this summer on the important projects that will enhance the safety and security of our students and staff. We’ll begin work on the issues we discussed on the campaign, including safety, indoor learning environments, out door learning environments, athletics, technology and building systems.

We will invest $15 million from the approved GO bond over the next 4 years in our facilities.
We promised transparency and every purchase order and expenditure from this fund will be listed on our webpage so the community can track our progress.

We are so excited to get to work!

Our board will decide next steps as far as the mill levies. They do not expire this year (I’ll get you the exact dates later this morning). As a result, there is no immediate impact to our budget. “

AlamogordoTownNews.com and Krazy KALHRadio.org 95.1 FM will be reaching out to APS leadership in followup of the impact to the loss with the mil levies and how that may impact the future budgets and system priorities. Stay turned as the story evolves.