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Cost Considerations <br />As a starting point for this update, in setting the budget for future school construction <br />it is important that the building cost per square foot reflect historical costs of <br />constructing new schools (both locally and statewide) as well as consider the current <br />construction market. A School Capital Review Team consisting of County staff and <br />representatives from each school district, would meet annually, in November, to <br />review construction and land related costs for actual school projects that have <br />occurred within the past year. Based on actual expenditures related to school <br />construction, the Review Team would recommend updated school construction <br />standard costs, which include all of the project components, for the respective <br />School Boards to review and for the Board of County Commissioners to approve. In <br />addition to school construction costs, the Review Team would also review the ten - <br />year Capital Investment Plan (CIP) process and pay -as- you -go funding allocations <br />for the upcoming long -range capital plan. The Review Team would take the <br />Construction Price Index (CPI) and benchmarks set by national education facilities <br />planners into consideration in recommending updated construction standards. <br />With historical practices, construction project budgets were established and <br />broadcast at the onset of project planning thereby "pre- setting" the budget for the <br />market to react to with the ultimate result of the construction community matching or <br />exceeding the budget. However, with future projects, the approach would vary <br />somewhat by not "pre- setting" the budget ahead of the bidding process. A more <br />conservative approach would be for the School Capital Review Team to create a tool <br />that analyzes historical costs of like projects (elementary to elementary, middle to <br />middle, etc.) across all project components. Appendix 5 offers an example of the <br />template that would serve as an analytical tool for developing construction project <br />budgets. Note to readers — Appendix 5 is pending finalization by County and <br />School staffs to include most recent school construction costs related to <br />Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Elementary #10 as approved by Board of <br />County Commissioners on March 13, 2007. This tool allows for a comparable <br />cost analysis without establishing any advantages or expectations to the <br />marketplace. <br />The following section defines individual construction project components, and <br />Appendix 6 provides the information in a chart format. Staff plans to develop <br />construction project budgets and track actual expenditures in accordance with the <br />project components outlined in the chart. At the end of the project, staff will prepare <br />a final reconciliation and budget variance analysis for Commissioners and School <br />Boards to review. <br />I&I <br />