CORRECTING KISD BOND "FACTS":

These statements were on the KISD Bond web pages this week (9/15/14).  My comments follow their replies and are in large, bold print:

Bond 2014 Fact or Fiction​


Q.   A September 17, 2014 Channel 13 news report charged that campaign finance reports for Political Action Committees (PACs) for, and against, the Katy ISD bond were not provided by the District when requested by that media outlet. It is believed that the District is withholding this information from the public. 

A. As of September 18, 2014 the Katy ISD had not received a campaign finance report from a PAC that is for, or against, the 2014 bond measure. When these reports are submitted by PACs, they are publically available to anyone who requests the reports. School districts are not legally responsible for requesting these reports, or otherwise ensuring submission or timely submission. This is the sole responsibility of the PAC and their campaign treasurer. There are fines (in the range of $500 and up) for late filing. Additionally, PACs may be subject to criminal prosecution or civil complaint with the Ethics Commission if they fail to submit a report. 

The Texas Ethics Commission website is the best source for information concerning PAC filing requirements. Generally, the reporting requirements are as follows:

  • Semiannual reports – filed twice per year, January 15 and July 15. These must be filed for as long as the PAC has a campaign treasurer on file, even if there are no contributions or expenditures during the reporting period.

  • 30-Day Pre-election report – Due 30 days before an election and must be received (not just postmarked) by the filing authority by that date; i.e., October 6 this year.

  • 8-Day Pre-election report – Due 8 days before an election and must be received by that date; i.e., October 27th this year.

  • Special Pre-election report – Must be filed if the PAC accepts a contribution or contributions from a single source that exceed $1000 in the aggregate during the period 9 days before the election – noon on the day before; i.e., October 26 – November 3 at noon this year. The report must be filed no later than 5 p.m. of the first business day following acceptance of the contribution.

  • There is a modified (less involved) reporting schedule that applies to a specific purpose PAC that does not accept more the $500 in contributions or make from than $500 in expenditures. Let me know if you need more information on that.

Trent Seibert, producer of the Ted Oberg report, asked for the TEC campaign reports from KISD for all the candidates back to 2008 AND the PAC reports.  KISD was withholding the campaign reports.  I know they were because I asked for them on July 26, 2014.  The District finally sent them Friday morning (September 19, 2014) after Channel 13's Ted Oberg report and WAY over the ten days limit for replying to my request.

They don't mention the candidates' campaign reports here! They don't want people to know that Ashley Vann and Courtney Doyle and Henry Dibrell accepted campaign contributions from LInebarger AFTER their first elections.  They don't want the public to know that State Representative Bill Callegari gave Henry Dibrell a $250 contribution AFTER the election last spring.   

The District took these campaign reports off line about the time the Board approved the bond proposal for the ballot.  In my opinion they are doing everything they can to keep people from knowing what they do, and it's backfiring.  So much for $750,000 consultants who give them what in my opinion is really bad advice! So much for "improving communications with KISD citizens."

Q.  The District’s WiFi username and password were recently changed. The WiFi password is now “onekatyisd,” which is very similar to the name associated with a local political action committee (PAC) named, “One Katy.” There are rumors that the district is implicitly campaigning by using a password that is similar to the name of a known pro-bond PAC. 

A. The WiFi username and password was identified on July 22 and changed on August 11. This system modification was implemented for the purpose of consolidating the three WiFi networks, that previously existed, into one WiFi network across Katy ISD. The similarity in the naming conventions are purely coincidental. School districts are prohibited from campaigning for a bond issue once an election has been called by the District’s Board of Trustees.

So why can't they change the password again, since they admit that it's illegal for them to have "even the appearance of campaigning for bond issues once an election has been called"? "One KatyISD" is literally the same as "One Katy" for all practical purposes!

 

Guess what KISD?  In my opinion, using this password that is VERY MUCH like the PRO BOND PAC name is "giving the appearance of campaigning for bond issues once an election has been called!!!!"


Q.  I heard that a District employee owns the land currently adjacent to Rhodes stadium. Isn’t this a conflict of interest?

A. The land adjacent to Rhodes stadium is owned by the Katy Independent School District. It was purchased by the school district in two transactions. One in 2010 and one in 2011. The land was previously owned by York Interest and Powerhouse Church respectively.  So who is "York Interest"?  Maybe "they" or "he" is of more interest to all of us than if "they" or "he" were a District employee! The District has been buying land from "York Interests" for years.

Q.   I have heard that the average value for a home in Katy is higher than the $200,000 average noted on the District’s bond informational materials. I believe the average home value is closer to $300,000.

A. The average home value reported by the three appraisal districts in 2013 was$215,269 (average taxable value $200,269). Katy ISD has recently received the 2014 value and it is $239,066 (average taxable value $224,066). This average was rounded to the nearest whole figure in the bond informational materials for the purpose of clearly communicating a tax rate impact that could be easily adjusted to calculate potential tax increases for homes valued at $100,000, $200,000, $300,000, $400,000, etc. Based on the proposed ½ cent maximum tax rate increase, a home owner with a home valued at $200,000 would pay $10 more annually. With this information one can assume that an owner of a $400,000 home would pay $20 more annually based on the proposed ½ cent maximum tax rate increase. But the District first told us erroneously that the tax rate at .04 cents per hundred dollar valuation on a $200,000 home would be $10 which was an error. The superintendent was quoted as saying it.  It's on the KISD web site. The superintendent's error is what has caused all the confusion.  The school district still isn't giving out correct numbers. And they have changed the amount of the tax rate increase several times.

Perhaps the superintendent  needs some help in calculating taxes.  He did, after all, cheat two school districts in the past by claiming a homestead exemption in TWO Texas school districts (DeSoto ISD and Katy ISD) at the same time!


Q.  There are rumors that the Board of Trustees (BOT) plans on naming the second stadium after a sitting school administrator or BOT. Is this the case?

A.  No, the BOT does not plan on naming the second stadium after a sitting administrator or BOT. Board Policy CW (LOCAL) outlines the process for naming new and existing facilities. The process includes procedures for making nominations, the composition of the selection committee, a public forum to solicit input on the selected name, and the submission of a recommended name to be presented to the Board of Trustees.  This is also a deceptive remark.  The School Board in recent years gave up their right to select the names for KISD buildings and gave it to an administrative committee.  So the "Board" might not name a facility after a BOT, but the administrative committee sure can recommend one to them!  Then the Board can vote on the recommendation and say "We are just approving the committee's recommendation--you know a committee of your peers who met several times and was Delphied into doing what we wanted them to do......"

I've never met a single person who thought it was a good thing to have named the KISD Arena after Leonard Merrell.  That was done by the Board out of the public eye.  There was NO input from the community.  If they name the Stadium after any person, that will be a huge mistake.  They need to sell the naming rights to an advertiser and not waste that means of income. 

Need an example of someone else that did that?  How about the Conroe ISD?  You've heard of them lately, I'm sure! That's where The Woodlands High School is.  Their home field stadium is called Woodforest Bank Stadium, and Woodforest Bank paid the Conroe ISD $1,000,000 for the naming rights.  Sounds like a good deal for the bank as well as the school district!