South Whidbey school officials are looking farther down the road as they consider a new bond issue to make needed building improvements.
“We need more time,” South Whidbey School District Superintendent Fred McCarthy said Thursday. “This is something we want to be really well-planned, with lots of data and lots of community input.”
Last week, McCarthy said officials were considering a new bond issue, somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million, for the ballot next year. It would replace the current $19 million bond issue that will be retired in 2010.
But McCarthy said that he and school board members now think it would be better to wait until February 2010, when other school money measures also will be on the ballot.
He said the district needs the money to take care of structural and cosmetics problems in its deteriorating buildings, work that has been deferred for years.
“We’re not talking extravagant remodels,” McCarthy said earlier. “We’re talking about meat-and-potatoes things like heating, ventilation, electrical, plumbing and roofing.”
He stressed that the idea is only in the talking stage, and that other potential revenue sources continue to be examined. He said the next step in the process could come later in the year, if the school board decides to take up the matter in public work sessions.
McCarthy said taxpayers are paying 71 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation on the current bonds. A new bond issue, he said, could come in at 30 to 40 cents per $1,000, according to information he said he received from three bond companies.
Besides the need for more information, McCarthy said another reason to delay the issue is the number of measures already on or headed to the ballot for South End voters.
“We have to be sensitive to the demands on the taxpayers,” McCarthy said.
There’s a $15.2 million bond issue on the November ballot for a new swimming pool and recreation center, and an $8.2 million request for funds to make over the Langley Marina.
Also on the November ballot is the formation of a public utility district, which would take over electrical service from Puget Sound Energy at a yet-to-be-determined cost that would be in the millions.
Meanwhile, Fire District 3 wants to build a new headquarters and training facility in Bayview, and is expected to ask taxpayers for $4 million, although no date has been set.
And Whidbey General Hospital officials expect to go ahead soon with a long-awaited new wing to upgrade patient and surgical facilities. No date has been set to put the measure before the taxpayers, but officials expect the request would be between $40 million and
$50 million.
Roy Jacobson can be reached at 221-5300 or rjacobson@southwhidbeyrecord.com.
