Agenda - 03-30-1995 - II - Laserfiche WebLink

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' School Lank Bulletin ``N inter 1944 When the survey was repeated in August 1984, Figure 1 total reported needs had increased to $2.2 biliiuu. and Reported Needs for School Construction, 1981 to 1993 the estimated cost of replacing temporary and obsolete facilities alone had increased from $950 million to al- 6.0 most S1.1 billion. Two years later a November 1986 survey found that reported needs had increased to $3.2 billion. By 1988 estimated total needs for the next ten years had increased to $3.7 billion, just about double 4.0 the 1981 estimate' (construction costs had increased 20 percent in the same period).' (See Figure 1.) Q In 1992 State Superintendent of Public Instruction Bob Etheridge proposed a $600 million state bond is- 2.0 sue for school construction, but the General Assembly m did not act on it. The next year Etheridge released sur- vey results that showed estimated needs for the coming ° ten years of$5.6 billion, more than triple the 1981 esti- 1981 1984 1986 1988 1993 mate and 50 percent higher than the 1988 estimate. Year of survey Etheridge said that the estimates included the need to replace or upgrade some buildings that were more than seventy-five years old, and that 827 of the 6,000 exist- ing school buildings were constructed between 1900 range construction needs,spending totaled$2.27 billion. and 1939. According to him, many local districts have When that figure is adjusted to account for inflation in "used closets and other areas for classroom space, de- construction costs, the adjusted figure of$1.87 billion layed improving programs because of a lack of space still exceeded needs reported in the 1981 survey. and made other sacrifices because the dollars are not During the eight fiscal years 1986-93 following available to build the schools, purchase the equipment the 1984 survey, in which reported needs totaled 52.2 and make the repairs that are so needed.116 billion, spending totaled $2.8 billion. Adjusted for in- flation in construction costs, the total was $2.4 billion. During the six fiscal years 1988-93 following the The Boom m 1986 survey, which reported long-term needs of 53.2 School Construction Spending billion, spending totaled $2.5 billion, or 75 percent of It would seem,judging from the consistent rise in reported needs. If spending continues at only the rate of reported construction needs, that North Carolina made 1993, spending will have exceeded the needs reported little progress in meeting school construction needs in the 1986 survey within eight years. during the twelve years previous to 1993. But that is During the five fiscal years 1989-93 following not the case. Despite the dramatic escalation in needs the 1988 survey, which found that needs for the next reported in the surveys, statewide school capital outlay ten years totaled $3.7 billion, spending totaled $2.2 after each survey actually met or exceeded the total billion, or 59 percent of reported ten-year needs. After dollar amount of needs enumerated in that survey.' adjusting for inflation, the total still exceeded half the During the ten fiscal years 1982-91 following the needs enumerated in the 1988 survey. If statewide 1981 survey, which enumerated $1.8 billion in long- spending continues at only the 1993 level, spending will have exceeded ten-year needs in less than nine years. 4.The 1988 survey..and the later 1993 survey, were conducted in accordance with a provision of the 1987 School Facilities Finance Act. Altogether the COUri[IeS Spent $3.? billion On which required reports every five years of the long-range capital plans for school capital outlay from 1982 to 1993. which was 77 the next ten years. percent more than called for by the 1981 surrey of 5. This figure is based on the implicit price deflator for fixed in- long-range needs. vestment in nonresidential structures. 6. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. News (Ra- As these comparisons Suggest, the escalation in leigh.N.C.:NCDPI.March 3. 1993).The 1988 survey,and the subsequent reported needs has been matched so far with a boom in 1993 survey. were required as a provision of the 1987 School Facilities statewide School construction spending. As Figure 2 Finance Act. 7.All figures on spending and receipts presented in this article are shows, annual spending doubled between 1982 and for fiscal Nears. 1987, and by 1991 it amounted to more than ti%e time