Fieldcrest Superintendent Randy Vincent held a press conference in his office Monday to present a case for approving a tax referendum for Fieldcrest in the upcoming November election.    Fieldcrest will be asking voters to approve a $0.65 increase in the education fund tax rate in order to restore some of the cuts made the past few years.  It will be the third time that voters will be asked to approve a tax referendum in the past 5 years, the previous two referendums having been defeated.

The main point that Superintendent Vincent emphasized is that property taxes will not increase if the tax referendum is approved.   This is the result of not having to contribute money to the municipal retirement fund and the retiring of working cash bonds.  The savings from these two items will result in a reduction of the tax rate by $.067 which is 2 cents less than the proposed $.065 increase in the education fund tax rate.  He added that the education fund tax rate has not changed since the inception of Fieldcrest in 1992 and was only projected to support expenses through 1998. 

Superintendent Vincent said that if the tax referendum is not passed them the school will be forced to float working cash bonds again which will result in a greater cost to the tax payer than if they had approved the tax rate increase.  Vincent presented the 3 possible scenarios shown below:

•  If the tax referendum is approved and no new teachers are hired, the education fund balance will remain positive for the foreseeable future with an additional $609,000 each year..  
  
• If the tax referendum is approved and two new elementary PE teachers and one elementary art teacher is hired at a cost of $287,000 per year, the education fund balance will be positive until 2012 when it will then be $500,000 in the negative if the current EVA does not change.
• If the tax referendum is not approved, the school will have to float $1,500,000 in working cash bonds that requires a $1,825,000 payback and will result in a $2,500,000 deficit in the education fund by 2012.

• The Pupil/Elementary Staff ratio has increased from a low of 15.6 in 2002 to a high of 19.9.
• Fieldcrest's Pupil/Elementary Staff ratio is the second highest in the group.
• The Kindergarten Class size of 18.6  is the second highest in the group.
• The First and Third Grade class sizes are the second highest in the group.
• The Sixth Grade class size is the second smallest in the group.
• The 8th Grade and High School Class size is the highest in the group.  The High School Class size is 19.8 and considerably higher than the second highest of 14.7.
• The Pupil/Administrator Ratio is 320.5 which is the highest in the group.
• The Equalized Assessed Valuation per Pupil at $80,206 is the second lowest in the group.
• The education fund tax rate is the second lowest in the group at $2.975.
• The education fund tax support per pupil at $2,386 is the second lowest in the group.
• The expense per pupil has risen from $4,865 in 1998 to $7,085 in 2005 and is the second lowest in the group.
• Fieldcrest is above the state average in the following categories:  Pupil/Elementary Staff Ratio, Pupil Certified Staff Ratio, Pupil/Administrator Ratio.
• Fieldcrest is below the state average in the following categories:  Pupil/Secondary Staff Ratio, Current Expense per Pupil.