Columbus Municipal School District trustees unanimously passed a resolution during a special-call meeting Tuesday to hold a special election for a bond that would fund $36 million in facility improvements.
The special election is set for May 14 and is open to registered voters living within CMSD boundaries.
The money would update life safety systems, like fire alarms, sprinkler systems and intercoms, in multiple schools, as well as provide general renovations like roofing repairs, build a new external gymnasium at Stokes-Beard Elementary School and address an ongoing drainage problem at the district’s athletic complex.
Now that the resolution has passed, CMSD Superintendent Stanley Ellis said the district will host five public meetings by April 18 to answer questions and provide more information about the bond. The first is 6 p.m. Monday at East Columbus Gym.
“I think today kind of sets the time for us to start moving in the right direction,” he told The Dispatch after Tuesday’s board meeting. “Things will be ramping up a little bit, and you’ll start hearing more about it.”
In December, the board of trustees commissioned PryorMorrow architectural firm to conduct a districtwide study to assess what improvements each facility needs. The results, released in February, were extensive, identifying $96 million in necessary updates from major renovations of parking lots and roofs to minor updates that comply with current building code requirements.
PryorMorrow’s assessment also confirmed that six schools housing students lack basic safety measures like a working fire alarm system.
Over the next month, the board began narrowing the list of updates, planning to only pursue $36 million in improvements with the bond money to avoid increasing the current tax rate. Improvement items that didn’t make the cut were shifted to a prospective “second phase” of the update, which could be funded by outside sources like grants and donations, Ellis told The Dispatch on March 14.
The bond referendum seeks to replace as many as 11.85 debt service mills, scheduled to expire in April, that were issued in 2009 to build Columbus Middle School. If the bond doesn’t pass, a homeowner’s property taxes would decrease by as much as $118.50 per every $100,000 of property value.
The referendum requires 60% voter approval.
The value of 1 mill to the district currently sits at roughly $222,000, according to Lowndes County Tax Assessor Greg Andrews. However, all property values for city facilities are currently being reassessed and updated for the upcoming 2024 roll, Andrews said.
He anticipates that number will increase to about $230,000 after the property value has been reassessed in the coming months, producing about $8,000 more per mill.
At $222,000, it would take between 10 and 11 mills to raise $36 million over a 15-year note. Andrews anticipates the bond shouldn’t require a mill increase, especially if the mill value rises, but he won’t know for sure until June.
“It’s all going to hinge on that one number,” he said, referring to the mill value. “If it was a normal year, I could probably (estimate) pretty close, but this is not a normal year because it’s an update year.”
What improvements will be made?
Should taxpayers vote to approve the bond, the main priority for the money, Ellis previously told The Dispatch, would be updating safety and security measures at district facilities.
Currently, Sale Elementary, Fairview Elementary, Cook Elementary, Franklin Academy, Columbus High School and Union Success Academy, which houses the district’s alternative school, each lack some degree of proper life safety measures like fire alarms, automatic sprinkler systems or working security cameras.
None of the district’s facilities aside from Stokes Beard Elementary, Columbus Middle School and additions at Sale, Cook, and CHS have doors that meet accessibility standards required by the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.
Facilities that require roofing repairs, according to PryorMorrow’s facilities study, include Sale, Fairview, Cook, Franklin and Union Success Academy.
The board’s resolution also stipulates the bond money will be used to “renovate, repair, remodel, enlarge and equip existing district facilities and grounds including school buildings, school campuses, the athletic complex and parking areas.”
The facilities study identified Sale, Fairview, Stokes-Beard, Cook, CHS, the athletic complex, Hunt Elementary, Franklin and Union each require parking lot repairs ranging from overlays to complete replacements.
The money will fund the construction of a new gymnasium at Stokes-Beard as well as repairing an ongoing drainage problem at the athletic complex that currently costs the district $25,000 in repairs to the track each year, according to CMSD Chief Financial Officer Holly Rogers.
CMSD bond issue public meetings
The district will hold five public meetings over the next three weeks to address any questions and concerns community members may have about the bond issue.
■ 6 p.m. Monday at East Columbus Gym
■ 6 p.m. April 4 at Sim Scott Community Center
■ 6 p.m. April 9 at Sandfield Community Center
■ 6 p.m. April 16 at Townsend Community Center
■ 6 p.m. April 18 at Joe Cook Elementary
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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