Board Scoping Proposed Capital Project
by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls School Board reviewed detailed scoping documents for a capital project at a special meeting held January 9. It is expected to make a decision about scheduling a vote on a proposed Capital Project at its January 17 regular meeting.
The project presented by the architect was broken into two sections. The first is a “base” project which includes necessary safety items, a new heating system, new bathrooms, new data cabling, and a few other infrastructure items. This part had a total estimated cost of $17 million. The second part, called “Program Renovations” included renovations to the science labs, the band room, the library, the auditorium and the kitchen/cafeteria. The estimated cost of this part was $5,370,000.
If both parts were to be done in their entirety, the total project would be $22,370,000. The task before the Board now is to decide if they want to cut down the scope of the project at all in order to offer a slightly more modest project to the voters, and whether to offer it as one big project, or to break it into two propositions so that the voters would have the option to vote for one and against the other.
State aid will pay about 80% of the project, and the District has capital reserve funds of about $4.6 million that can be used to pay for this project. Board member Joe Patire asked Business Manager Emily Sanders how big a project the District could do if they wanted to have the capital reserve fund pay all of the District’s 20% portion of the cost. She said an analysis by a consultant said that they could do a $15 million project without any new taxpayer impact. Patire suggested that the Board offer a base project that is at or near the $15 million figure which would get the most essential things done and have very little impact on taxpayers, and offer a second proposition to do the rest of the work proposed.
The District also has grants in hand of $1,269,000 for technology upgrades, most of it from the Smart Schools Bond Act, and this would be used to upgrade computer systems and phone systems in conjunction with the data cabling upgrade included in the capital project.
John Helft said there will be utility savings realized as a result of the upgrades of heating and lighting equipment included in the project, and these will, in effect, help to pay for the cost of the project. He asked the architects to put together their best estimate as to what these savings might be, so that the Board could take that into consideration.
Business Manager Emily Sanders provided the Board with estimates of taxpayer impact if the District were to do the entire $22,370,000 project. For a house valued at $50,000, it would be $277 over 16 years, or about $17 per year. For a $100,000 home it would be $553 over 16 years, or about $35 per year. For a $250,000 home it would be $1,384 over 16 years, or about $86 per year. These impacts are weighted toward the later years of the 16 year bond, so the annual impact in the first few years would be a lot less than these figures.
John Helft said the most important thing that everyone should know is that in the long run, the District will be able to keep school taxes much lower if they do the capital project than it can if it doesn’t do the project. The reason is simple: work done as part of a capital project gets state reimbursement for 80% of the cost, and the District only has to pay 20% of it. Work done piecemeal or on an emergency basis that is not part of a capital project does not get that aid, and the District must pay 100% of the cost.
Helft noted that one of the District’s heating boilers broke down a month ago, and it has now been rebuilt at a cost of $10,000. The District gets no state aid for that expenditure, but if that boiler had been replaced as part of a capital project, the State would pay 80% of the cost.
Hoosick Falls Mayor Rob Allen endorsed the project. He said he is going to be a lot more vocal this time around about speaking in favor of the project, because he believes a first-rate school is an essential component of a successful community, and a first-rate school can’t have antiquated facilities. “The value of your house is tied to the quality of the school,” he said.