Board votes to rescind referendum
By J.D. Walker
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
ASHEBORO - Randolph County commissioners did an about-face Monday with
a new plan to finance school construction and improvements over the next
five years.
Commissioners voted unanimously to rescind a May bond referendum to raise
$50.3 million to pay for a new high school in the northeast corner of the
county plus improvements at Asheboro City Schools and Randolph Community
College.
Instead they voted to raise $81 million through a series of Certificates
of Participation (COPs) issued from 2006 through 2010. The money will pay
for the projects listed above, a second new high school, this one in Archdale/Trinity,
plus generate about $12 million for contingencies.
In other action, the board also voted to approve a request to be presented
to the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority for two boat access sites
on Randleman Lake after the lake is filled in 2006.
The decision to reconsider school financing hinged on a deep-seated fear
that county residents would not support a bond referendum for school improvements
in May.
Dr. Bob McRae, Randolph County school superintendent, said overcrowding
at area schools is already overwhelming. He pointed out that if the bond
referendum was defeated, it would take at least one more year to work out
other financing plans.
School officials want to begin construction on new schools in 2006 for
students to occupy in 2007.
In the meantime, he said, demand for space in the county's high schools
would only grow.
Randleman High School was built to house roughly 700 students but is
projected to have a population of 1,156 in 2006, said McRae. Eastern Randolph
was built to accommodate 1,000 students but will have a student body of
1,503 in 2006.
"Any delays will mean more mobile classrooms," he warned.
And increased costs. McRae estimated that delaying the start of construction
on a northeast high school beyond 2006 could add just over $800,000 to construction
costs for a high school in that corner of the county.
Under the new plan, COPs would be sold in January 2006 to generate $28
million for a high school in the northeast part of the county. Officials
would sell $23 million in COPs in November 2006 for a new high school in
Archdale/Trinity.
In 2010, officials would authorize the sale of $30 million in COPs for
improvements to city schools and RCC.
The decision comes at a cost to property owners. Starting in the 2006-07
budget year, the property tax will have to go up 4.3 cents. The next year,
it would hike another .89 cents to bring it 5.19 cents over today's rate
of 50 cents per $100 property valuation.
The rate would continue to rise until 2012 when it would reach 6.08 over
today's rate just to pay for the debt service on the school bonds.
After 2012, the bonds' impact on the county's property tax rate would
gradually decline.
These increases do not reflect any property tax rate hikes to cover inflation
or routine cost increases in the remainder of the county's budget.
In September 2004, County Manger Frank Willis advised commissioners that
a 2.5 cents increase will be needed next year to reduce the budget deficit.
To meet the current expense increase for education will require a 4.5 cents
hike over the next two years.
Commissioner Darrell Frye said he doesn't believe that will be necessary.
At Monday's meeting, an annual audit report revealed that the county had
generated an unexpected $2 million in additional revenue largely through
refinancing measures.
In 2006, the county will undergo a property revaluation. That typically
generates additional revenue.
"I don't think we will see property taxes going up as much as we
previously thought," Frye said. He also said there is a possibility
of financial help from the state.
In other matters, commissioners voted to approve Planning Director Hal
Johnson's recommendation of two sites for boat access on Randleman Lake.
Johnson told commissioners that his studies support a boat access on
155 acres very near the dam just off Randleman Lake Road and one on 56 acres
at the intersection of Commonwealth Road and Walker Mill Road.
Frye will take the requests to PTRWA for a final decision today.
Additionally, commissioners voted to:
* Award the $684,753 bid on the Seagrove library project to Brooks General
Contractors of Greensboro.
* Adopt an emergency management ordinance giving county officials authority
to declare and act in a local emergency.
Commissioners also:
* Heard the annual report from the Randolph County Economic Development
Corp. (EDC). Bonnie Renfro, EDC president, reported that more than $71.2
million in new and expanded industrial investment was made in the county
in 2004 and it created 582 new jobs.
* Heard an update of the Information Technology Strategic Work Plan and
approved a request for $547,500 from the fund balance to pay for specific
improvements through 2008.
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