IFA Funding to Repay 70% of $14M LFISD Bond Issue if Approved by Voters

Election Day Saturday, May 7; Early Voting April 25-May 3

Not available since 2010, Instruction Facilities Allotment, or IFA funds are available this year to assist the La Feria school district community by repaying almost $10 million of the $14 million dollar bond issue on the table for voters to approve May 7. These federal monies will minimize the financial impact to taxpayers and may not be available in the future. This funding will leave a balance of only 30 percent or $4.2 million for repayment by the local taxpayers.

If approved, the district would modernize and upgrade the La Feria ISD school facilities and add security features to most schools. Early voting begins April 25-May 3 and Election Day is set for Saturday, May 7 at old Sam Houston Elementary School, 474 Villarreal Street in La Feria.

At its January 11, 2016 board meeting, the La Feria ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously to call a $14 million bond election asking voters to consider a proposition that, if approved, would provide funding to modernize C.E. Vail Elementary, build an Ag Barn at La Feria High School, add security entry vestibules at each elementary school, and other items such as parking lots at campuses.

“We’re asking voters to tell us whether or not they want to invest in their community school buildings,” said Alan Moore, La Feria ISD School Board President. “The facilities condition report we commissioned from an independent engineering firm identifies significant structural and adequate space deficiencies at C.E. Vail Elementary as our highest priority. The report recommends demolition of several structures and repair and modernization to the remaining campus structures.”

Superintendent Rey Villarreal and the senior staff of Cindy Torres, Assistant Superintendent, and Ramon Mendoza, Chief Financial Officer, have been presenting to community groups in the District. They have met with PTO’s at all elementary schools and also presented at the high school to a group at a parent conference. In addition, the Lions Club hosted the group at a recent club meeting in order to learn about the Bond Facts.

Villarreal stated that the $10 million in funds are available from TEA because the Legislature voted to provide these funds to qualifying school districts in the last legislative session. These funds are not always available.

These funds will be utilized to upgrade the school facilities in the district, provide additional spaces for students to learn such as modern computer labs, and provide additional security features at the campuses. Unusable or inefficient buildings will be demolished at C. E. Vail & the Academy complex.

“One of my duties as a superintendent is to make recommendations to the school board in regard to facility needs in order to optimize lesson delivery in particular to students. I do this with the help of a very able and responsible Facilities Committee that consists of parents, community members, and school district staff. We utilized architect and engineering reports and studies as well as input from committee members on prioritizing the needs of the district. The recommendations have been presented to the board who in turn have input into the final bond proposal. This process has taken about two years to get to this point.”

Additionally, Villarreal indicated that this bond effort is proposed to be the first effort in what is a five to ten year plan for the district to upgrade and modernize the facilities in the district. The school board is taking a very frugal approach with this plan in making use of IFA funding from TEA as much as possible.

If approved, La Feria ISD homeowners would be responsible for approximately 30 percent ($4.2 million) of the bond and approximately 70 percent ($9.8 million) would be funded by the state. “Anything over $14 million would have to be funded entirely by local taxpayers and we’re just not going ask that of our community,” Villarreal said.

The tax rate impact on homeowners would be no more than 7.14 cents, or $2.38 per month on the average La Feria ISD home value of $65,000. A homeowner with a home valued at $125,000 would see a tax rate increase of no more than $72 per year. NOTE: Senior Citizens 65 years of age or over will not experience a tax increase as a result of this bond election. The school tax rate and the assessed value are frozen when a taxpayer turns 65 years old.

“We have been studying our facilities and matching state funding programs for nearly two years,” said Board President Alan Moore.

“We had a representative group of district staff, parents, and community members review the conditions of current facilities, space requirements, funding options, construction costs, tax impacts on homeowners, and a variety of scenarios to address the most pressing facilities challenges facing La Feria ISD. They brought a recommendation to the Board and we voted unanimously to call this $14 million bond election.”

For more information please read Frequently Asked Questions posted at www.laferiaisd.org or call Mr. Villarreal, Superintendent, at 956-797-8300.