GILROY
– Thanks to rising home prices Gilroy Unified School District
has more money than expected for its next two decades of facilities
projects. The extra funds could mean some construction will be
finished sooner than expected, or entirely new projects could be
added to the district’s to-do list.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Thanks to rising home prices Gilroy Unified School District has more money than expected for its next two decades of facilities projects. The extra funds could mean some construction will be finished sooner than expected, or entirely new projects could be added to the district’s to-do list.
District officials and school board trustees are not yet discussing what exactly will be done with the $6.4 million, which comes from surplus bond funding from Measure J. A special board study session is scheduled for Dec. 15, when the district’s Facilities Master Plan will be discussed in detail.
Measure J was first approved by voters in 1992 for $13.5 million and refinanced in 2001 for another $14 million. The funds must be used on projects that modernize the district’s facilities. At the time available Measure J funds were calculated, the district conservatively predicted that home prices, the basis for the bond’s funding, would increase 5 percent each year.
“Any time you put together a plan, I think most people would like to be conservative, because the last thing people would like to do is … not have it happen,” said Steve Brinkman, assistant superintendent of administrative services. “My personal philosophy is to always be in the position where you under-promise and over-deliver.”
The actual increase in home prices from 1998 through 2003 was 11.14 percent, more than double what GUSD predicted, Brinkman said.
To pay back the dollars borrowed through Measure J, the district receives taxes from homeowners based on property value. As more houses are sold at today’s higher rates, GUSD will get more money from higher property taxes. GUSD must pay back money it borrowed through Measure J by 2012.
“If assessed valuation grows, it’s an indication that the economy is growing and things are good, and so we hope that continues,” Brinkman said.
Since the assumed growth for the remainder of the bond term, from 2005 to 2011, is also 5 percent, it is possible GUSD could receive extra money from Measure J in the future. However, bond funding works in such a way that in the later years of the bond less tax money becomes available, Brinkman said.
The surplus money will likely be put to use on several upcoming projects, said Jim Rogers, school board president.
“There’s so many unknowns, the good thing is that this ($6.4 million) is known,” he said. “We’re certainly not swimming in money, but any money that comes up will certainly be put to facilities … and you know that it stays local.”
The school board on Thursday will likely approve an updated 25-year Facilities Master Plan that was presented at the Nov. 20 meeting. The plan is a road map for facilities work funded by Measure J and Measure I, a $69-million bond passed last fall. The plan was revised to cover current and future facilities projects through 2027.
Both Measures J and I, along with developer fees, state funding and grants, are expected to fund the plan.
Projects planned for the next three to five years include the rebuilding of Eliot Elementary School, multi-purpose rooms at Glen View and El Roble, a new Las Animas in the south side of town and a student center at Gilroy High School.
While the district did plan for some inflation and increases in the cost of living, Rogers said, these extra funds will help the district stick to the master plan timeline.
The district could also decide to use the $6.4 million to move up some projects planned for the future, taking advantage of lower construction costs and a current favorable bid climate, Brinkman said.
As the economy strengthens and inflation occurs, the estimated cost of projects in the master plan could go up. Finishing projects sooner than expected could offset some of those increasing costs.
New projects not included in the master plan could even be considered during the board’s facilities study session.
“We want to examine all of the potentials,” Brinkman said.
Meanwhile, designs for the district’s current big project – building a new Eliot – are moving ahead and construction will likely begin in late spring, said Charlie Van Meter, GUSD’s director of facilities and maintenance. The plans for the two-story school are 60 percent completed and will be sent to the state Department of Education next month.
In summer 2004, the district will begin construction on two multi-use/library media center buildings at Glen View and El Roble schools. During the Nov. 6 board meeting, trustees approved contracts with an architectural firm to draw up plans for the buildings.
If the district gets the building plans approved by early spring 2004, it could receive up to $1 million in state funding for the construction of multi-use and food service facilities for each building.
The estimated cost of construction for each 10,000-square-foot building is about $3.2 million. GUSD is paying Aedis Architects about $300,000 for each set of designs.
