BY TOM CAIAZZA
Staff Writer
EDISON – The Board of Education unanimously accepted the state’s offer of $17 million in debt service aid to pay for renovations at the township’s elementary and grade schools.
The project, which is slated to come in around $79 million, will be supplemented by the state’s $17 million contribution over a 20-year period. The district had previously been unable to acquire grant funding, which would have paid out immediately, but Business Administrator Daniel Michaud has said in the past that the district was very happy it received even the $17 million.
According to Michaud, Gov. Jon Corzine is expected to make changes to the program that is offering Edison the money, so district officials opted to move ahead with the project now because they felt it gave them the best chance to acquire the most state funding they could.
“We were told that with this whole funding thing that the governor’s trying to change, there is no guarantee that debt service aid will even be available after he changes what he is going to change,” Michaud had said.
Michaud said that with the approval of the board, the state is now locked into the debt service aid, but that the project going through to fruition is still not a lock.
The bond referendum, which would allow the board to raise the necessary $79 million to front the cost of the renovations, will still have to be approved by the public, along with the 2007 budget, in April’s election. If the public denies the bond referendum, there is no guarantee the money from the state would be there the next time these renovations come before the voters.
While the district is prepared to add the question on April’s ballot asking for $79 million, Michaud said there is a chance that number would be lower.
A meeting between residents, district officials and the architect will take place sometime this week, Michaud said, to look at alternative techniques for building the gymnasiums that are part of the renovation project. While Michaud could not go into detail about the technique, he did say that it had worked in other districts and that there may be cost savings for Edison if that technique was used.
“We’re open to anything if it’s going to save us money and it works,” Michaud said. “I have no problem with that.”
Should the number go down, Michaud said that the difference would be returned to the taxpayers by way of the debt service aid.
Michaud said that no matter what the outcome of that meeting is, it is unlikely that the taxpayers will be asked to pay anything more than the $79 million that is being discussed.
“If it goes anywhere,” Michaud said of the number, “it will go down.”