Thursday, March 12, 2015

C. J. Huff on why district is only borrowing $29 million: Nobody likes debt

The Joplin R-8 Board of Education voted today to borrow an additional $29 million, with approximately half of the money going to building contractors and the other half to help pay off the $37 million loan the district took out in August.

Superintendent C. J. Huff (pictured) notes that the loans will be paid off with money the district receives from FEMA and SEMA to cover construction costs.

What he fails to mention, but was mentioned at a recent board meeting, is that the Huff Administration okayed a number of additions to the construction that have not been approved by the state or federal governments, which means there is no guarantee that all of the money is going to be reimbursed.

Meanwhile, Huff and the board have continued spending heavily despite predicting that the district's fund balance will dip to its lowest point yet, eight percent next year- unless, of course, something else happens.

Thankfully, Board President Anne Sharp assured the Joplin Globe recently that after the election, she and the board will come up with a plan to bring the fund balances back up.

Reportedly, reducing spending will only be considered as a last resort.

From KZRG's coverage of today's special board meeting:

"Certainly paying that loan off first and foremost is why we got together today. Nobody likes debt and we certainly don't want any more debt than we have to have on our books. I see us paying that off sooner rather than later."

Huff explained that FEMA pays off only when it sees documents of construction costs and not before the work begins. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this picture of CJ Huff. It's so much more flattering than some of the others you have had lately. And much more realistic.

Anonymous said...

His biggest wish is to one day be a real educator.