The Montgomery County School Board, after struggling with the decision of where to sent students in the fall, now faces a new dilemma: Quickly crafting a long-term plan for Blacksburg High School.
Because Auburn High School and Auburn Middle School in Riner were the next two schools on the county’s list for renovations, the board must also deal with the potential consequences of not renovating those buildings, which both date to the 1920’s.
Finally, the board must consider the potential financial impact its actions will have on Montgomery County. Though it plans to meet with the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors on Monday, it is already worrying about the potential increase in taxes the supervisors may need to enact across the county to pay for the high school renovations.
The current real estate tax level, according to a presentation given by member Walt Shannon to the board on Tuesday, is 74 cents for every $100. The same presentation estimated an increase of 1 cent for every $700,000 added to a project.
Currently, the county has about $9 million left over from its two most recent construction projects, the construction of Shawsville Elementary and Prices Fork Elementary. That amount was $10 million, but $1 million has been appropriated to help offset the costs of transitioning Blacksburg Middle School students to Old Christiansburg Middle School in the fall.
Shannon said in his presentation that the county’s debt can only be 12 percent higher than its expenditures. Because of this, he said, the county can only borrow about $2 million during the 2011 fiscal year.
“The county has reached its borrowing limit,” he said. “The only way for the county to increase revenues is through taxes.”
The board’s four potential plans for dealing with the county’s high schools include:
— Repairing BHS for $14,464,000 and not dealing with AHS or AMS. This option would potentially not increase taxes because the board doesn’t yet know how much insurance money it will receive to offset the cost of repairing the collapsed gym.
— Building a new BHS, building a new AHS, and renovating the current AHS so that AMS students could utilize that building. This option is estimated at $124,556,000 with a potential tax increase of 13 cents.
— Building a new BHS and a new AHS, but not immediately beginning to renovate the current AHS for eventual AMS occupancy. This option is estimated at $102,010,400 with a potential tax increase of 10.5 cents.
— Building a new BHS for $57,456,000 and not dealing with AHS or AMS. This option would bring a potential tax increase of 6 cents.
School board members plan to bring these plans to the Board of Supervisors in Monday’s meeting. Various members voiced their support for different plans, but all seemed to have the financial burden of tax increases in mind.
“Option one is the only thing I feel like I can go with,” member Penny Franklin said.
Member Joe Ivers called the second option, work on all three schools with a potential tax increase of 13 cents, “astronomical.”
“Option two is out of the question,” he said. “I think we need to be fiscally responsible.”
Board member Wat Hopkins, also a communication professor at Virginia Tech, supported option one but called it a “stop-gap” measure.
“It can’t be our only option,” he said.
Although no decision can be made until after the school board meets with the Board of Supervisors, Hopkins urged members to not just consider construction costs but also other costs of operating the county’s schools.
“I have a problem asking for bricks and mortar when we’ve forgotten programs and people,” he said. “I can’t ask for 10 cents for construction without asking for raises.”
The Board of Supervisors meets with the school board on Monday, Aug. 2 at 5 p.m. in the Montgomery County Government Building.
