A proposed construction project for the Fulton City School District will edge a little bit closer to the district’s legal limit on debt.
The project is a fairly small one, at $8.8 million. That’s about a million dollars more than initially proposed and about a million dollars short of the district’s legal debt limit.
It’s intended to finish pieces removed from the last two construction projects because of unplanned costs, such as the extensive cost of removing asbestos from beneath the high school football field. It’s also intended to take advantage of the extra aid available from the state for projects that improve buildings and infrastructure.
Superintendent of Schools Bill Lynch explained that the district plans to use $350,000 from its reserve fund for capital projects. He said that nearly all of the project will qualify for 98% aid from the state. He showed financial projections that indicate that over the 15 year life of the project’s debt, the net impact on taxpayers will be minimal.
“It will have more or less paid us to do it,” he said.
The project will finish some roof work at two schools, finish rewiring two schools for modern computer networks, and complete renovations to the stage at the Fulton Education Center, among other things.
The district plans to hold a public vote on the project Dec. 12. If voters approve the project, work would begin in Spring, 2014 and end in Fall, 2015. It will take most of 2013 for the district to win approval for the project’s plans from the state.
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I always love Bill Lynch and the school district’s reasoning to justify a project… “it won’t cost the taxpayers anything or very little” That song is played over and over again.
Where do they think the district’s reserves and the state’s funding come from… a money tree?
Every school district in the country gets its funding from taxpayers one way or another. And school taxes just keep going up and up.