Bond referendum would allow school district to jumpstart six new projects
If voters approved a possible bond referendum, Aiken County Public Schools could begin renovation and construction projects at six schools as soon as 2019 and complete them by 2022.
Without the bond, construction could not begin until until 2024 and would not be complete until 2035.
Currently, the school district does not have the funds for any of the projects.
District Superintendent Dr. Sean Alford discussed the option of a $90 million bond to pay for the projects Monday at the first of six town hall meetings at Leavelle McCampbell Middle School in Graniteville. The focus of the meeting was addressing overcrowding and creating balanced student populations caused by a population shift west of the City of Aiken to the Midland Valley and North Augusta areas.
If the referendum were approved, the estimated cost to Aiken County taxpayers would be $20 annually per $100,000 property value for people who pay the 4 percent tax rate and $30 annually per $100,000 property value for people who pay the 6 percent tax rate.
“No decisions have been made,” Alford said. “This is totally for feedback. We need you to help us understand whether or not these projects are appropriate and how we should go about funding them if we are going to go down that road.”
Revenue from the bond would fund expansion of Midland Valley High School; renovations at Millbrook, Belvedere and Hammond Hill elementary schools; and construction of a new elementary school and middle school on donated land in the North Augusta area.
The expansion at Midland Valley High, which is at 110 percent capacity, would include a new two-story wing with 24 classrooms, expansion of the current cafeteria and the addition of an auxiliary gym.
The estimated cost would be $20 million.
The bond would allow the district to level older classrooms, which were built in the 1950s, at Millbrook, Belvedere and Hammond Hill elementary schools and replace them with new two-story wings.
“We addressed three elementary schools where we know we will have growth in high numbers but also where we have some current safety concerns,” Alford said.
The estimated cost of the three projects would be $38 million.
The bond also would allow the district to build a new elementary and a middle school in the North Augusta area on donated land.
“We've been working with a developer, and we anticipate having a deed in our hands in January for 85 acres,” Alford said.
The estimated cost of both projects would be $32 million.
Alford said the school district does not receive money from the federal or state governments to build schools. The district levies bonds annually for $18 million in capital project money, known as 8 percent funds, with about $8 million of that amount going to upkeep and repair of existing buildings and about $10 million going to new construction.
Currently, the $10 million from the 8 percent funds are being coupled with the revenue from the 1 percent sales tax referendum Aiken County voters approved in November 2014 to pay for new construction and renovations at five projects only as follows:
• The new Leavelle McCampbell Middle School, which opened to students in August.
• The new classroom wing at Aiken High, which is expected to be ready for students before the end of the year.
• The new classroom wing at North Augusta High, which students moved into Monday.
• A new Ridge Spring-Monetta high school and elementary schools, which have not yet begun.
• Renovations at the Aiken County Career Center if funds are available.
With the $10 million each year from the 8 percent funds tied up for the next seven years to help pay for the five projects, construction on the proposed six new projects could not begin until 2024.
Voters approved the 1 percent sales tax for 10 years, and the tax is not renewable. Voters would have to approve a new tax in a referendum.
If the voters approved a new sales tax in seven years, the revenue from the tax coupled with 8 percent funds would allow the district to begin work on the six new projects without a bond referendum, but work could not begin until 2025.
“The voters would have to say the tax could renew in 10 years,” Alford said. “We do not assume. It has to be voter approved. Sales tax alone is insufficient. You have to have sales tax and 8 percent funds.”
A bond referendum would jumpstart the six projects and construction on them could begin as early as next year, Alford said.
Voters rejected the school district's request for a $236 million bond in 2010 to fund the five current projects and a new middle school in the North Augusta area, Alford said. The cost to taxpayers would have been $116 annually per $100,000 property value at the 4 percent rate and $174 at the 6 percent rate.
Support for a possible bond referendum was mixed among people who attended the town hall meeting.
One person at the meeting said, “You tell people you're going to raise their taxes; it gets a no vote every time. Am I right?"
Another person voiced support for a bond referendum.
“If I had to pay $20 more on my taxes, I would,” she said, drawing applause from some of the audience members.
Story by Larry Wood, The Aiken Standard
November 7, 2017