• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Albany voters face two school referendums

Photo

ALBANY — Voters in the Albany School District will decide next week whether the district will spend $3.75 million in two referendum questions to upgrade the school and exceed the revenue cap for the next four years.

The school board wanted to combine them into one question, but was legally required to separate them because one is a bond and the other is to increase the revenue cap, School Board President Fairy Elmer said.

"We're trying to stress to people this is not an either/or situation. There's necessity on both sides," she said. "You can't put a roof on a school and not have the funds to operate it."

The first question asks voters to spend no more than $2 million over 10 years for "essential school building and safety improvements."

Those include:

-- Replacing an outdated, leaking, non-insulated roof. The proposal would add a sloped roof over existing roof on the elementary wing, kitchen, offices, old gym and new gym. Preliminary estimated cost is $800,000.

-- Major boiler work, including replacing the steam system with hot water system. Preliminary cost is $1.1 million.

Minor repair work has been done on the 45-year-old boiler system, "but we're really limping along at this point," Elmer said.

-- Major gym lobby work including replacing doors and flooring. Preliminary cost is $100,000.

The improvements are estimated to save 20 percent to 40 percent in energy costs, Elmer said. The terms of the bond would be back loaded so that taxpayers would pay less now and more in later years because until 2014 they are paying off a bond approved in 1996 to build the addition that now houses the middle and high schools, Elmer said.

Second referendum

The second referendum will decide whether the district can exceed its state revenue cap during the next four school years.

State revenue caps allow a district to increase its income by only 2 percent to 2.5 percent, Elmer said, while expenses increase by 4 percent to 4.5 percent annually.

The dollar amounts requested are:

-- $250,000 for 2009-10

-- $450,000 for 2010-11

-- $500,000 for 2011-12

-- $550,000 for 2012-13

The amount for 2009-10 is lower because the district will receive funds from a five-year referendum voters OK'd in fall 2003 to exceed the revenue cap. That referendum provides $200,000 for 2009-10.

The board already has made cuts that haven't affected students, but without approval to exceed the cap, cuts will be made that students will feel, Elmer said.

Cuts the district already made include reducing and redistributing administration to save $60,000 annually and eliminating various staff positions. The board also saved or brought in money through grants, changing the teachers union health insurance for better rates and installing energy efficient light to save more than $20,000 annually.

This year the district also dipped into its reserve fund for $100,000. In addition, 60 to 65 students left through open enrollment, taking state funding with them, she said.

If the referendums don't pass, expect to see them back on the ballot in summer. If they fail next week, the board will regroup and talk to voters to find out why they voted no, Elmer said.

"We will go again, maybe in July or August," she said. "We hope we don't have to go there."