Do you approve of the exercise of powers necessary for the Kenai Peninsula Borough to directly fund cocurricular activities for the school district in addition to operating funds currently authorized by law? It is anticipated that the amount of funding will not exceed 0.5 mills in additional tax levies for a total amount of $2,128,928 per year based upon the current taxable property in the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Funds appropriated to the school district would be placed in a special revenue fund and administered by the school district superintendent. Cocurricular activities include educational, cultural, and recreational activities that are sponsored by the school district and are not part of, but supplemental to, curricular courses.

YES [A Yes vote authorizes the Borough to directly fund cocurricular school activities. This is in addition to funding currently provided by the borough for educational programs and activities. The level of such funding, if any, would be established by the Assembly through the regular budget process.]

NO [A No vote will result in no change to powers and authorities currently held by the borough and may result in no additional local funding for cocurricular activities outside of the funding cap established by state law.]

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District has struggled for the past several years to meet the needs of the district with the funds available from state and local sources. The Borough Assembly has consistently funded the District at the maximum level allowed by state law and has, to the extent possible, funded special needs outside of the cap on local funding.

Significant increases in the rate set for both certified and non-certified employee retirement programs (TRS and PERS) for the coming year, coupled with increased personnel costs mandated by approved labor agreements, have resulted in an anticipated sizeable budget shortfall for the next fiscal year.

Several months ago, KPB School Superintendent Donna Peterson appointed a task force to examine the funding of cocurricular activities outside of the general operations budget of the school district. This task force included representatives of the KPB Board of Education, the Borough Assembly and members of both the school district and borough administrations.

The task force first identified those activities that would constitute the cocurricular program. These included activities of a supplementary educational nature such as sports, drama, dance, speech and other similar activities sponsored by the school and conducted before or after school hours.

Next, the task force reviewed the alternatives available to the District to fund these activities. The concept that held the most appeal to them was funding through a direct grant from the Borough into a special revenue fund to be controlled by the School District. Following an in-depth review of this proposal, the Borough Attorney concluded that funding cocurricular activities "outside the cap" appears to be allowed under current state law so long as the appropriation does not go to the District's operating fund. However, whether the Borough's educational powers conferred by state law gives it the authority to fund cocurricular activities outside the cap was not clear. Therefore, it was recommended that the voters be asked to decide whether they approve this additional power and authorize direct funding of cocurricular activities.

Approval of this proposition does not mandate funding of cocurricular activities, nor does it set a maximum or minimum level of such funding. Levels of funding and levels of taxation are determined by the Borough Assembly through the regular budget process. Conversely, a No vote on this proposition does not necessarily prohibit funding of cocurricular activities outside the cap.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO VOTERS:

Your voted ballot must be RECEIVED in the Borough Clerk�s Office or in one of the authorized Absentee Voting Stations no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30, 2004. Call 714-2160 or