Richmond Community Schools wants to maintain its property tax rate in future years to pay for what school officials call overdue capital projects.
Superintendent Allen Bourff said Tuesday that the administration is looking at its financial options for updating classrooms and lighting at Dennis Intermediate School and paying for other facility upgrades totaling an estimated $8 million. Among them, he said, is having taxpayers continue to pay the current tax rate that paid for the bond to renovate Test Middle School. RCS’ current tax rate is set at 64 cents per $100 assessed valuation.
The school board will have a conversation about that financial option with the administration when it meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the RCS Administration Building, 300 Hub Etchison Parkway.
“It’s a discussion to begin a consideration of a timeline beginning now to about 2020,” Bourff said.
RCS owes $1.43 million for the Test bond, including interest payments, through July 31, 2013. RCS is also paying on a pension bond through January 2020 with costs totaling $12,939,841, but Bourff said many projects cannot wait until then.
Besides the Dennis project, which Bourff said is “crucial,” the administration has released a list of other projects to the board that it wants to complete. They are:
• Repairing roofs and the facade of Richmond High School, along with updating the school’s pool, football bleachers and athletic fields;
• Adding classrooms to Charles Elementary;
• Installing new heating and cooling systems at Vaile Elementary School and the Hibberd Program Building; and
• Installing security enhancements at the Community Youth Services complex, the central office administration building, and Vaile.
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