July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Project cap is lowered (03/14/07)
South Adams School Board
By By JACK RONALD-
BERNE - The ceiling was lowered Tuesday night.
South Adams School Board members unanimously agreed to scale back the amount to be spent on a new kindergarten through grade 8 facility and renovations to the high school to a maximum of $25 million.
That's down from $35 million one week ago when the board held a Public Law 1028 hearing on the project.
Despite repeated assurances from the board that the project would come in well below the $35 million level, property taxpayers have been expressing serious concerns about the impact of the project on the tax rate.
Tuesday's action revises the price cap downward and also extends the payback period for a proposed bond issue.
According to calculations by the accounting firm of H.J. Umbaugh and Associates, Indianapolis, a $25 million project with a 24-year bond repayment would add $10.32 per month or $123.80 per year to the property taxes on a $70,000 home in the South Adams school district at the maximum projected interest rate.
At current interest rates, which are more favorable, the tax impact would be $9.15 per month - or $109.81 per year.
On an acre of farmland with an assessed value of $1,140, the tax impact would be $4.41 per year at the maximum interest rate or $3.91 at current interest rates.
Those figures are down dramatically from Umbaugh's projections on a $35 million project with a 20-year payback. At the earlier maximum cost and payback schedule, the project could have had an impact of $7.60 per acre of farmland assessed at $1,140.
Board members assured about 25 farmers on hand for Tuesday's meeting that they would do everything they could to bring the project in for less than the new ceiling of $25 million.
A 30-day remonstrance period on the project began on March 9.
"Our plan is to keep that just as low as we possibly can," board president Tony Mellencamp said. "I will be as prudent as I can possibly be. I will question. I will ask. And I'm confident all the board members will."
The $25 million ceiling wasdeveloped from estimates by board member Myron Schwartz and superintendent Cathy Egolf.
"The $25 million includes everything we've talked about," said Schwartz.
"We'll probably be down to $20 million," added board member Arlene Amstutz.
Several assumptions in the earlier $35 million estimate were revised downward, including the projected cost per square foot of a 140-000-square-foot K-8 facility and significantly lower "soft costs" on the project.
Architect Dan Rawlins of InterDesign, Indianapolis, had projected "soft costs" such as land acquisition, soil borings, and legal fees at 18 percent of the project. Schwartz and Egolf believe the actual figure will be closer to 8 percent because the school system already has the land and soil borings completed.
Egolf also noted that an energy savings project to be paid for by the school corporation's capital projects fund has come in at less than the amount originally projected. That will allow work on renovating the high school swimming pool to be paid for from the capital projects fund, eliminating that cost from the proposed bond issue.
She also noted a number of steps are under way which will help raise funds to further reduce the amount of any construction bond issue. Board members are looking at selling the school district's central office building and a couple of parcels of land to raise additional funds.
Even with the reduction in the maximum project cost, farmers on hand were skeptical.
"I don't like this project," said Ed Dunmoyer, who farms in Adams County's Hartford Township. "I don't want to be strapped with a big tax bill the next 20 years. ... Milk these other buildings out a little longer."
"We've been milking them out for years already," responded Mellenkamp, referring to the aging elementary school in Berne and middle school in Geneva.
Board members said they had studied the cost of remodeling the two buildings and found it would be more cost effective to build a new structure.
"I feel that this is a project that just has to be done for our kids," said board member John Minch. "I realize that it's going to cost everybody. I will be hit. Everybody will be."
"At the last meeting, I made a statement that was misunderstood," said Schwartz. "I made the statement that I don't care about budgets. ... What I meant is there's more to this picture than dollars and cents. We need to focus on more than just the dollars. We need to focus on everything."[[In-content Ad]]
South Adams School Board members unanimously agreed to scale back the amount to be spent on a new kindergarten through grade 8 facility and renovations to the high school to a maximum of $25 million.
That's down from $35 million one week ago when the board held a Public Law 1028 hearing on the project.
Despite repeated assurances from the board that the project would come in well below the $35 million level, property taxpayers have been expressing serious concerns about the impact of the project on the tax rate.
Tuesday's action revises the price cap downward and also extends the payback period for a proposed bond issue.
According to calculations by the accounting firm of H.J. Umbaugh and Associates, Indianapolis, a $25 million project with a 24-year bond repayment would add $10.32 per month or $123.80 per year to the property taxes on a $70,000 home in the South Adams school district at the maximum projected interest rate.
At current interest rates, which are more favorable, the tax impact would be $9.15 per month - or $109.81 per year.
On an acre of farmland with an assessed value of $1,140, the tax impact would be $4.41 per year at the maximum interest rate or $3.91 at current interest rates.
Those figures are down dramatically from Umbaugh's projections on a $35 million project with a 20-year payback. At the earlier maximum cost and payback schedule, the project could have had an impact of $7.60 per acre of farmland assessed at $1,140.
Board members assured about 25 farmers on hand for Tuesday's meeting that they would do everything they could to bring the project in for less than the new ceiling of $25 million.
A 30-day remonstrance period on the project began on March 9.
"Our plan is to keep that just as low as we possibly can," board president Tony Mellencamp said. "I will be as prudent as I can possibly be. I will question. I will ask. And I'm confident all the board members will."
The $25 million ceiling wasdeveloped from estimates by board member Myron Schwartz and superintendent Cathy Egolf.
"The $25 million includes everything we've talked about," said Schwartz.
"We'll probably be down to $20 million," added board member Arlene Amstutz.
Several assumptions in the earlier $35 million estimate were revised downward, including the projected cost per square foot of a 140-000-square-foot K-8 facility and significantly lower "soft costs" on the project.
Architect Dan Rawlins of InterDesign, Indianapolis, had projected "soft costs" such as land acquisition, soil borings, and legal fees at 18 percent of the project. Schwartz and Egolf believe the actual figure will be closer to 8 percent because the school system already has the land and soil borings completed.
Egolf also noted that an energy savings project to be paid for by the school corporation's capital projects fund has come in at less than the amount originally projected. That will allow work on renovating the high school swimming pool to be paid for from the capital projects fund, eliminating that cost from the proposed bond issue.
She also noted a number of steps are under way which will help raise funds to further reduce the amount of any construction bond issue. Board members are looking at selling the school district's central office building and a couple of parcels of land to raise additional funds.
Even with the reduction in the maximum project cost, farmers on hand were skeptical.
"I don't like this project," said Ed Dunmoyer, who farms in Adams County's Hartford Township. "I don't want to be strapped with a big tax bill the next 20 years. ... Milk these other buildings out a little longer."
"We've been milking them out for years already," responded Mellenkamp, referring to the aging elementary school in Berne and middle school in Geneva.
Board members said they had studied the cost of remodeling the two buildings and found it would be more cost effective to build a new structure.
"I feel that this is a project that just has to be done for our kids," said board member John Minch. "I realize that it's going to cost everybody. I will be hit. Everybody will be."
"At the last meeting, I made a statement that was misunderstood," said Schwartz. "I made the statement that I don't care about budgets. ... What I meant is there's more to this picture than dollars and cents. We need to focus on more than just the dollars. We need to focus on everything."[[In-content Ad]]
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