A1: The district saves $millions by doing the work at today’s rates instead of waiting and paying years of inflation later
A2: There will be significant and immediate energy savings (electricity, heating oil)
A3: All at once with a bond payment means we can predict and even out the tax rate over 20 years
A4: The state building aid program may fund up to 50% of the project; these funds are not available if we do projects one at a time
A5: EDUCATION – Updated, properly sized learning spaces with better light, heating, cooling, and air filtration means fewer distractions for students and therefore a better education
A1: The scope is different. For example, the renovation/consolidation project means building new classrooms at Troy, Emerson, and Mt. Caesar. The capital plan is a list of ‘band aid’ projects to keep repairing only what we have
A2: With renovations we are solving a larger issue not described in the capital plan: Many of our classrooms and shared spaces are undersized, and many of them in awkward places, such as libraries and special services in the basement, or two classrooms of the same grade being on opposite ends of the building
A1: Yes, but only a handful of classes, and we are working to minimize that as much as possible
A2: To minimize that impact to families, construction will occur in phases. Once the first school is ready, there will be space for one or two classes to attend an alternate town from the next school starting construction
A1: Each year the district currently votes for ~$1.5m in project construction warrant articles, but the cost of each of those projects is rising due to inflation and many of the backlogged projects now cost closer to $2m each
A2: The intent of this project (with a bond) is to purchase all of the work in a 2-3 year period, and then pay for it over time
A3: The cost of that bond per year will be ~$2m per year, BUT there will be a multitude of savings in heating oil, electricity, etc.
A4: The net effect to our taxes will be neutral at first, and then lower taxes over time
A1: The bond for our district will be is like a 20 year fixed rate loan, but with a declining payment (the payment goes down every year)
A2: If the bond rate is the SAME as the inflation rate (every year), then the bond method creates a stable, predictable tax rate
A3: If the bond rate is LOWER than inflation, then the bond method creates a tax savings by avoiding the inflation we would pay if we waited on a project
