PERRYSBURG — A Perrysburg Board of education vote on moving forward with the new Facilities Master Plan — including possible levy requests for the November ballot — is tentatively scheduled for the next meeting in May.
The board discussed more of the relevant factors at the Monday meeting.
The current plan is financing projects through 2040, for which the expected needs are approximately $200 million, in two phases.
The first phase would total $140 million. To achieve that would require a levy with 5.46 to 5.60 mills, resulting in a cost to a $250,000 home per month of $39.84 to $40.82. The estimated cost, if the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission reimburses at the full 30%, or $42 million, would then mean a final cost to the district of $98 million.
The second phase total is $63 million. The reimbursement of up to $42 million may be applied to phase 2, as long as it is spent within 5 years, resulting in approximately $21 million needed for the second levy in 2028.
“The range of the millage … it’s a moving target,” Treasurer Randy Drewyor said.
Several factors make it hard to determine the mills needed down the road. Among those factors are the value of a levy being partially based on the value of property in the district at that time, as well as the actual amount the OFCC reimbursed and what happened with financing rates over that time period.
The school district has submitted the application for the OFCC funding. However, the result of that application will not be known until after the board of elections deadline for getting the levy on the ballot for November.
Any new levy is not as extreme as it at first appears, because there will also be debt retirement, Drewyor said. In 2024 there will be 2 voted mills retiring and in 2042 there will be another 1.6 voted mills retiring. Additionally, there are the existing levy renewal or replacements of the operations levy that expires in 2024 and the permanent improvement levy renewal in 2025.
Board member Ray Pohlman suggested that the board might make the decision about the levy sooner than the June meeting, but also wanted to know if there was an advantage to waiting.
Both Drewyor and board President Eric Benington replied simultaneously that issues like financing rates and specific costs can become clearer and more accurate with time. Like Drewyor, Benington is also an accountant, as chief financial officer for the Rudolph Libbe construction company.
Benington added that feedback from the community has been “pretty positive,” and said that right now he feels ready to make an official decision in May.
In response, Drewyor said that he meets with the financing team this week and will work toward making that vote possible.
Board member Lori Reffert asked if the construction cost estimates have been done in today’s dollars.
“(The Collaborative) looked at the scheduling, of when those things would be done, and they built in the inflationary costs,” Superintendent Tom Hosler said. “The estimate, it’s the best guess, based on the market, of what those bids could be. … Change orders are something we try to avoid.”
Board member Kelly Ewbank asked if the district would ultimately still have any portable classrooms and what would happen to the ones that are currently in use.
“I know you lose money, like with a car, the minute they move off the lot,” Ewbank said.
Hosler said that there wouldn’t be any portables, once the plan for 2040 is complete.
He also said that there is a market for used portables. However, some of the current ones will likely not be sold, as they will have exceeded their expected lifespan.
