No crystal balls

 

Following a public hearing at its January 3 meeting, the Goochland Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to appropriate up to $15 million for the new Goochland Elementary School construction project.

The School Board is expected to execute a contract with Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. at its January 10 meeting. The supervisors and school board will hold a joint work session on January 11 beginning at 9 a.m. in the county administration building.

On November 29, the school board formally requested additional funds for the new school after bids came in higher than anticipated via letter. The county audit and finance committee discussed the matter at its December 6 meeting and again on January 3 before the regular board meeting.

A public hearing on the request was required by state law because the amount exceeds 1 percent of the county’s total budgeted expenditures for the current fiscal year.

Comments made during the January 3 audit and finance committee meeting showed that the supervisors gave a great deal of thought, research and prayer to the situation since their December 6 meeting.

The process illustrates the great working relationship between the supervisors and school board, a rarity in the Commonwealth.

Supervisor Ken Peterson District 5 framed quandary during the audit and finance meeting. Go to https://goochlandva.new.swagit.com/videos/196142 to listen. The issues were simple, does the GES project go forward now; how much should be spent on it; and where will the money come from?

The county issued $50 million in general revenue bonds in February 2022, $40 million of which has been appropriated for the new GES.

There was some sentiment to postpone the project and rebid it in a year or so after the expected imminent recession cools inflation in hopes of lower costs. It was pointed out that institutional construction is different from residential construction. There are no guarantees that future bids would be enough lower to compensate for the loss of funds already spent on the project.

“People come up to me and say that we need a new school, but gosh, this costs a lot. Are you going to raise my taxes?” said Board Chair Neil Spoonhower, District 2 summing up the conundrum. The county, he contended, could be in a very dire revenue situation going forward. He does not envision an increase in taxes and is concerned about securing and honoring the trust that the public has in elected officials.

Peterson wondered how much the county can afford to spend without compromising public safety operations.

The supervisors are committed to careful stewardship of tax dollars. They remember all too well the concerns about the impact of the pandemic on county revenues in 2020. The budget proposed in February of that year was slashed before its April adoption to ensure that core services were adequately funded. As actual revenues became clearer, most cuts were restored.

County revenues going forward, could once again contract significantly if real estate assessments fall as they did after 2009. Fiscal uncertainty looms with a possible recession over the horizon and the specter of falling home values once again on the radar screen.

The board meeting room was about half filled for the public hearing during which few people spoke on the topic. Applause broke out after the vote was taken.

A replacement for GES has been needed at least since the turn of the 21^st century. The new school will have a 700 student—650 k-5 and 50 pre-k—capacity. According to Superintendent of Goochland Schools Jeremy Raley Ed. D. the school is expected to be at about 75 percent of capacity when it opens in August ’24.

As a result of attendance boundary adjustments approved last year, the new GES will draw enough students currently in the Byrd and Randolph zones to remove all trailers, giving those schools some “breathing room” before they too are replaced. This, said Raley, will give the county schools growing room for about 60 years.

Raley pledged that every resource appropriated to the project will be wisely spent and that it would come in on time and under budget. He said that value engineering and other cost reduction measures are ongoing.

The supervisors discussed where the county would get the $15 million to fill the gap.

County administrator Vic Carpenter pointed out that the money under discussion is for capital expenditures would not impact operations. The county and schools, said Carpenter, will work closely together to ensure that the funds are spent carefully. He also said that nothing stops the county and schools from seeking sources of funding other than county revenues.

A motion was made to appropriate up to $15 million, from bond premiums, future interest on the bonds; school proffers; additional bond premiums; CVTA transportation funds; and General Fund assigned balance for capital improvement plan inflation costs. Those funds are to be spent only after the $40 million generated by the bond issue, which has been appropriated for the GES building project, has been exhausted.

Spoonhower pointed out that the school board still needs to execute the contract for the project, which is expected to occur at the January 10 school board meeting.