MANSFIELD You might not be able to get something for nothing, but Mansfield residents may be able to get more for less.
By:David Koch
That’s if township residents agree to a proposed school bond referendum to build a second floor and expand the gym size of the new elementary school being built on Mansfield and Island roads.
Last March, voters approved borrowing $12.9 million for the building of the new school. That would have cost the owner of a home at the township average of $146,000, $151 a year more in local school taxes for 20 years.
But due to an influx of state aid from the new $8.6 billion state school construction law, residents will now only pay $8.8 million of the $12.9 million construction price for the school, instead of the full figure.
An owner of a home at the township average will now only pay $47 a year more in school taxes, a decrease of $104.
"It’s very positive compared to the snapshot (of the budget) we had last March," said Board of Education Business Administrator Karen Bailey.
School officials also predict that the additional the state aid will now save the township $2.2 million in interest on the bond.
With a cheaper bond, the Mansfield Board of Education is now hoping to add a second floor with 17 classrooms, and expand the gym.
Residents will vote on the two-part bond issue on April 17 during school board elections. Local residents will be asked to pay $2 million of the estimated $3.5 million cost of the second-floor addition.
That would be an additional 2.5 cents per $100 of assessed value or $36.50 more a year in school taxes for the owner of a home at the township average.
The second bond question, if passed, would expand the gym size from 5,200 to 8,800 square feet.
Taxpayers are being asked to fund $300,000 of the estimated $500,000 cost, raising local school taxes by one-third of a cent. The average homeowner would pay an additional $4.94 a year.
If the new bond referendum is passed, local tax payers would pay $41.44 more a year in school taxes.
Added to the new cost of $47 a year for the new school’s construction, taxpayers would pay $87.60 more a year in school taxes for the next 20 years.
The new school would be built as a second elementary school to the John Hydock Elementary School on Locust Avenue.
As of March 7, 2001, John Hydock had 455 students in a school that only has a capacity for 280. The new elementary school will house grades four through six.
The school board also is planning to return $600,000 of the original $12.9 million bonded for the school’s construction. The $600,000 was originally allocated for land purchase, but the site of the new school has been donated by the township.
School officials are very optimistic that the new bond questions will pass.
"Dealing with a positive bond and more positive ratables, I would be stunned if the taxpayers didn’t support it," said Superintendent Joseph Bruni at last week’s school board meeting.
