While the Concord Board of Education approved building a new middle school in October, the final financing plan for the project is still in the works.
The board will hold a hearing on a bond package at its January 5 meeting.
Business Administrator Jack Dunn said several different options are still being developed and will be available in advance of the board’s decision.
When the project was approved, Dunn presented rough estimates that the property tax rate impact of the $155 million construction would be between 53 and 69 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value on a home in the first year – or between $212 and $276 on the tax bill of a $400,000 home.
The board has a few different funding levers to pull.
The autonomous school district has long planned to use a trust fund for school facilities to drive down the base cost. The board will also have to decide when and how many bonds to take out – for a project of this size, they’re likely to consider multiple rounds of smaller bonds rather than a single one upfront. This approach was the same one the district took when building the new elementary schools, and the method the city plans to use to pay for a new police station.
Dunn has also suggested removing some shorter-term spending items – things like classroom technology – from the bond and covering them in the regular budget.
In an October presentation, Dunn noted that the board considered 29 different funding arrangements for the elementary schools project.
Formal site work on the building, which will be located next to the existing Rundlett Middle School, is expected to begin in the spring. District leaders are in talks with the city and other local schools to plan for the displacement of outdoor athletics.
The final impact on property tax bills may further change based on the results of the citywide property revaluation currently underway. Both property value updates and the major projects approved this year will first appear on next year’s tax bill.