SYRACUSE - The uncertainty as to when Indiana's reassessment will be completed is leaving school corporations across the state wondering when they will get their tax draws.

A school corporation receives its tax draw after the county figures the school corporation's tax rate, which is based on the reassessment figures. Those tax draws usually come twice a year - in June and October.

Tuesday, because of uncertainties of the reassessment, the Wawasee School Corp. Board of Trustees was presented with a notice of sale of tax anticipation warrants for approval for advertisement at an amount three times what it was last year. The corporation is asking for 2003 for amounts of $6.45 million for the general fund, $1.785 million for the debt service fund, $655,000 for the capital projects fund and $485,000 for the transportation fund.

A bid may be for all or a portion of the warrants but must state a single rate of interest, and no bids for less than the total of the individual fund or less than $100,000 are to be considered. The deadline for receipt of the sealed bids was to be 1:30 p.m. Dec. 10.

The money is needed by the school corporation in early January to pay their bills that will come due.

However, because of the extremely high amount of the warrants the school corporation is seeking, the board members wanted to see if there was a way the corporation could pay back the warrants early if the tax draws came on time.

That idea brought up questions as to if the advertising deadlines could be met on time, if the warrants could be issued on time if the time frame was extended even a week and if any financial institution would issue the warrants knowing that the school corporation may pay them back early.

Brian Dawes, school board chairman, said with the huge amount of money the school corporation was considering, he wants the bids for the warrants to be as flexible as possible.

The advertisement for the warrants is scheduled to run today in two area newspapers, and the board was uncertain if the advertisements could be pulled from the newspapers at such short notice if they modified the bids. The bids must be advertised twice, and today's advertisements would be the bids' first run.

School board attorney David Cates said his biggest problem with changing the bids wasn't necessarily pulling today's advertisements if the board so decided, but whether the issuance of the warrants could be completed on time for the school corporation to pay its bills.

After several rounds of discussing the issues brought up by the board, it finally approved to let today's advertisement for the warrants run as is. Meanwhile, Cates and director of finance Jim Evans will discuss with the corporation's bond counsel whether or not advertising the warrants on the premise they may be paid back early if the school corporation gets its draw is a good idea. If the bond counsel OKs the idea of advertising the bids two ways, the school corporation must readvertise the new bidding. The deadline for receipt of the sealed bids would then be pushed back approximately a week to Dec. 17.

If the bond counsel negates the prepayment of the warrants as part of the bidding procedure, today's advertisement will serve as the first of the two legal advertisements required.

Members of the Wawasee Community Schools Corp. Board of School Trustees are: president Brian Dawes, vice president Carol Swartzendruber, secretary Marion Acton, Jeff Wells and Dallas Winchester. They meet at 7 p.m. in the administration office board room, Syracuse, on the second Tuesday of every month. [[In-content Ad]]