BOZEMAN – The Bozeman School District is looking to buy two different lots of land to build future elementary schools.
The district hopes to buy two 10 acre lots near Baxter and Davis Ln. It also hopes to buy land at Woodland Park near Four Corners.
The school board sent out 38,000 ballots last week asking for approval of both of these purchases. However, Deputy Superintendent Steve Johnson says often a misconception is that taxpayers will have to fund this purchase.
“We have had that question. You know, how much is this going to cost and how much are my taxes going to go up and we have had that question and obviously we tell them that we are selling land that we already own to purchase this property,” said Johnson.
According to Johnson, the money to buy the new property will come from the $2 million sale of the land adjacent to the Emerson Center and by selling 20 of the 30 acres the school owns on Patterson Road.
“You know, taking some of the properties that aren’t necessarily usable or useful for the school and converting that to an asset that can be used in the future to build a school on,” said Johnson.
Johnson said even though Bozeman taxpayers will not be footing the bill, Montana state law requires that any land purchased by the school district first be approved by voters.
Completed ballots must be returned to Gallatin County’s election office by 8 p.m. on May 8.
