Minutes 04-29-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Commissioner porosin arrived at 8:06 pm. Commissioner Gordon said her understanding is that if this renovation money were approved, it would delay the need for funding elementary school #8. Commissioner Price asked if OCS has any planned renovations. Gerri Martin said the Board has only the first 5 years of their CIP. She said elementary school #8 is not slated to happen until 2022. She said there is a facility assessment report that identifies $160 million in renovation and deferred maintenance and construction needs for the district. She said this would be part of a bond conversation. Commissioner Pelissier said she would like to understand the role of the state monies. She said she does not see this for OCS, but the CHCCS shows two different figures. Gerri Martin said OCS only received state planning allotments last month. She noted that it is never the case that the actual state funding received matches their state planning allotments. Commissioner Pelissier asked which of the two CHCCS figures is correct. Todd LoFrese said the second figure is the initial information received through DPI, but this number will be different once the state sends its final allotments. Commissioner Pelissier asked if both of these reflect a substantial decrease. Gerri Martin said the OCS number will be increased because of the increase in students. She said the allotment is based on the number of children. Todd LoFrese said there are also things that are held back, such as the transportation allotment. He said the initial number does not represent the end product, and he is not expecting a decrease in state funds at this time. Commissioner Rich asked why the number of expected student increase for OCS is so different than what was originally projected. Gerri Martin said these numbers are based on the Principals' Monthly Report (PMR), and those numbers usually match with the numbers funded from the state. She said this year there was a changeover, and those numbers didn't get verified initially. She said this was a big part of the delay. She noted that the numbers were also wrong last year, as OCS already has 75 more students than projected. She said there is a formulaic process for these projections, and it remains to be seen if the numbers are accurate. Commissioner Rich asked if, with the increased level of students, OCS is anticipating that the 41% poverty level will increase. Gerri Martin said there is no way to know this, but the trend in Orange County shows that the poverty rate has increased every year for the past 6 years. She does not know if this will turn around. 2. Potential Bond Issuance Schedule and Timeline for a May 2016 Bond Referendum Clarence Grier said recent Board of County Commissioners meetings and school collaboration meetings led to a decision to move this referendum to the spring of 2016 to improve voter participation. He said the older school needs are part of this discussion and the combined needs total about $330 million dollars. He said the current estimated bond referendum is $100 million, and the debt service on this amount is $6.7 million per year. He said interest rates are going up right now. He said the current debt service on $330 million would be $20 million, and 12.15 cents on the current property tax rate. Clarence Grier said he wants to make sure the Board takes the opportunity to discuss the older facilities needs tonight. He said CHCCS has requested funds for planning for potential renovations of$750,000.