At the urging of Miami County Attorney Kenton Harding, the Louisburg USD 416 School Board tabled its approval a week earlier of a 10-year, $4.8 million Lease-Purchase Agreement for the construction of a high school baseball/softball complex over concerns that their action violated state law.
At its May 12 meeting, the Louisburg board approved the lease-purchase agreement on a 6-1 vote, with only Board Member Pat Apple dissenting. Discussion of the agreement begins here at the 36:20 mark.
But County Attorney Harding, alerted by an unnamed school patron, raised the issue of Kansas Statute 10-1116(c) with the district and spoke to the board on its implications on May 21st before a standing-room only crowd. The statute states:
c) If the municipality is a county, school district or community college and the proposed agreement involves the acquisition of land or buildings, is for a term exceeding the current fiscal year of the municipality, and provides for annual payments which in the aggregate exceed $100,000, the governing body of such municipality first shall adopt a resolution stating its intent to enter into such lease-purchase agreement. The resolution shall specify the total of all payments to be made pursuant to the agreement and the purpose for which such agreement is to be entered into. The resolution shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the municipality. If a protest petition signed by not less than 5% of the qualified voters of the municipality, as determined by the vote for secretary of state at the last general election, is filed with the appropriate county election officer within 30 days following the last publication of the resolution, no such agreement shall take effect unless approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the municipality voting at an election thereon. Any such election shall be called and held in the manner provided by K.S.A.10-120, and amendments thereto, or in accordance with the provisions of the mail ballot election act. If no such protest petition is filed within the time limitation contained herein, the governing body of the municipality may enter into such agreement. If an election is held pursuant to a protest petition and a majority vote is cast in favor of the proposition, the governing body of the municipality shall have authority to enter into such agreement.
At its earlier vote to approve the agreement, the board had not taken the step of authorizing the publishing of its resolution in a local newspaper. That could lead to a vote by district patrons whether to approve of the agreement, if the 5% threshold mentioned above is reached.
A public vote is what the school board was maneuvering to avoid, as it planned to fund the development from current revenue in its capital outlay account, as opposed to its maintenance fund, which would have required a bond issue vote. As Board President Jim Foote stated in the meeting with Harding:
“We have zero interest in ever proposing a bond issue for maintenance again.”
The board later voted unanimously to table its earlier approval and place the public notice in the Miami County Republic. As the statute states, after the notice has appeared in the newspaper a second time, opponents to the agreement have 30 days to gather signatures to reach the 5% threshold to override the board’s approval and force a public vote on the issue.
We asked Louisburg Board President Jim Foote to comment on the concerns expressed by County Attorney Harding and the board’s tabling of its earlier approval of the agreement:
“The USD 416 Board of Education is always committed to providing the best learning environment for all students, both in and out of the classroom. We look forward to working with our community to bring a much-needed complex to our school district that can be used by all students and our community.”
Harding commended the board’s decision:
“If the school board posts notice of its intent to enter into the lease purchase agreement per KSA 10-1116C then it will have cured any due process issues and the resolution and lease purchase agreement will be perfectly legal.”