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BOURBON – Triton School Board held a public hearing Monday on pursuing a maximum amount of $2,760,000 in general obligation bonds for building projects.
Triton Superintendent Jeremy Riffle said pursuant to Indiana code, before a school corporation may spend more than $1 million to build, repair or alter a school building that will be financed by lease or bonds, the school corporation must hold a public hearing to explain the potential value of the project.
“The school corporation and community are given this public hearing and the consideration of resolutions representing the legal process. The resolution is presented at this meeting that establish the financial terms for the proposed project,” he said.
A lot of the projects to be worked on are things the school corporation is trying to be proactive about doing.
Riffle talked about what general obligation bonds went towards in the past. In 2024, the school corporation took out general obligation bonds to put in an auditorium railing, baseball riser for the performing arts and cabinetry in some of the offices. Some of the things that are often used with general obligations bond money are technology for students and teachers, buses and sidewalk repairs.
Sean McGill, senior manager with Baker Tilly, said the school corporation will look at a maximum of $2,760,000 in general obligation bonds. The anticipated 2027 total school rate is 84 cents per $100 of assessed value. That will represent a 4-cent increase about the 2026 tax rate. However, it will be a decrease from the 2025 tax rate, which was 84.58 cents per $100 of assessed value. The state average is $1.0210, with the area average being about 94 cents.
He said the plan is to issue the bonds in the fall when the 2027 assessed valuation is known.
He also presented three scenarios for repayments, where the general obligation bonds would be paid back in three, four or five years. The maximum the school corporation could take to repay the bonds was seven years. All three scenarios presented to the school board target the 84 cent tax rate.
There were no public attendees at the meeting and no public comments.
Lauren Siler, from Ice Miller, then presented the board with some resolutions regarding the project. The first was a project resolution, which is required any time a school corporation plans to spend at least a $1 million and the project will be financed by bonds. The second resolution was a preliminary bond resolution, which contained the financial parameters McGill went over, Siler said.
The last resolution presented was a reimbursement resolution, which preserves the school corporation’s ability to reimburse itself bond proceeds “if, for example, any funds towards the project are spent from the operations or rainy day fund before we actually close on the bonds. Once we do get those bond proceeds, you can reimburse the school corporation with those bond proceeds,” she said.
The school board approved all three resolutions.
In other business, the school board:
• Heard tickets are on sale at all the school buildings for Student Life Foundation gala April 4 at The Wooded Knot.
• Approved the hiring of Rachelle Meister as a substitute custodian and Cynthia Stichter as a substitute teacher.
• Heard second- and third-graders are finishing up taking the IREAD test this week, with the majority of the students taking the test last week.
