Richland Bean Blossom School Board

The RBBSB covered one issue of import in the meeting we covered last night: the proposal to issue a bond to cover the costs of a new junior high school and renovations/additions to the current high school. The total cost of the project was slated at something like $83 million.

To give some background: RBB schools cover the areas including and surrounding Ellettsville, Indiana. There are around 19,000 residents in the area covered. It isn't a particularly affluent area, but certainly isn't poor. It is worth noting that the area used to be supported by jobs from several local factories in the immediate area. These factories have now left town or are in the process of doing so.

So a small town is talking about taking out a 20-year loan that will cost members of of that community something like $4500 each over that period of time. That wouldn't seem all that burdensome if property taxes were low or if the economy was booming. But neither of those is the case. Ellettsville's area is bleeding good jobs, and their property taxes have nearly doubled in the last couple of years, according to some citizens who spoke last night.

I think this is a worrisome action. They are putting a significant burden on the residents of that township for the next 20 years. While the new school and renovations to the high school will certainly be an improvement, I'm not sure it is a sound investment.

They are talking about a 4 million dollar outlay every year. It seems to me that the school corp could easily contract 4 million in improvements every year and gradually build things up, but not obligate themselves to such a huge outlay at once.

I really like the idea of having a small team of workers on retainer at the school system. A team of 10 experienced workers could make $50,000 each per year and only cost the school corp a half-million. That would leave 3.5 million for materials out of their projected budget. You can easily build a couple of new classrooms, or seriously renovate sections of existing school for that much money.

Plus, one of the downsides of this huge bond is that their projects were estimated at $56 million. But after interest and administration of the bond, they end up paying something like $83 million total. If they paid their $4 million yearly into immediate, non-financed repairs and renovations, they could end up with $80 million in direct improvements to the schools. They would gain $27 million in capital improvements just by paying as they go instead of in a big chunk right now. That seems like a no-brainer to me.