The Columbia County Board of Education voted to approve more school improvements, Tuesday evening.
During the board’s monthly work session meeting Superintendent Steven Flynt brought before the board two resolutions. The first was for HVAC upgrades at Euchee Creek Elementary and Greenbrier High School. The second was to approve a plan for improvements at Greenbrier and Harlem High Schools, alongside other capital projects funded by some $190 million in bonds sold by the school district, as approved by voters in a referendum last November.
District 4 board member Katie Allen quibbled with the latter, saying that issuing the bonds could put the district in further debt.
“Altogether, our current bond and interest debt from 2028 through 2036 when the payments end, is looking at $144 million,” said Allen, adding that an additional $190 million would put the district in roughly $334 million in bond debt, not counting interest.
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Allen went on to ask Alex Casado, the school district’s chief financial officer, “What would our millage rate look like if we approved this $190 million bond, and a SPLOST 2032 did not get approved? What would our millage rate have to look like to cover that amount of debt?”
Casado replied that a future mill value would have to be estimated to provide an accurate number. Board chair David Dekle then asked Casado a series of questions in which, in responding, Casado noted that the school district can only request five-year SPLOSTs, that the financial staff had crafted the funding plan to be “certain that we would avoid having to levy a debt service millage rate,” and that without the issuing of the bonds, CCBOE could not conduct the Harlem and Greenbrier High School improvements.
Dekle also mentioned, “for clarification,” that the resolution is “almost like a preliminary resolution,” that would return before the board members in the coming November, which Casado affirmed.
All board members save Allen ultimately voted in favor of the resolution.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
