SOUTHWICK – Southwick Tolland Granville Regional School Superintendent Dr. John Barry thanked voters for their support of funding the school project at last week’s town meetings during a school committee meeting yesterday.
Barry said the next step is the Jan. 31 special election ballot question. Barry said he wanted to clear up some confusion on that vote.
“The ballot question is for a debt exclusion,” he said, “it is not an override – it is a debt exclusion for the school project only.”
The three towns must all approve the question in order for the project to move forward.
“If any of the towns does not approve it by majority vote, the project stops,” said Barry.
The debt exclusion asks voters to agree to pay for a $72 million renovation project to three of the district schools.
The project is unique because the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is offering reimbursement for renovations to Woodland Elementary School, Powder Mill Middle School, and Southwick-Tolland Regional High School (STRHS) as a group. In order to take a campus approach to the project, Southwick, Tolland and Granville had to pass an agreement for Granville to join the regional school district at special town meetings in all communities.
The MSBA has signed a contract to fund 60 percent of the project, leaving nearly $30 million up to the towns to fund. Barry said necessary repairs to the three schools would cost $60 million if the district tackled them alone.
The district will bond for the $30 million for 25 years. The bond will be paid in the form of a temporary property tax increase. In Southwick, the average property owner will pay an additional $400 a year, in Tolland, the rate will increase by $110 for the average tax payer, and in Granville, and the tax will increase an average of $329. Granville residents will not have to pay the increase, however, because the town has promised to pay the increase out of savings the town will incur by joining the regional district. Once the bond is paid, the increase disappears.
Voters in all three towns approved funding the project at three separate town meetings last week. The town meeting vote required two-thirds approval. The Jan. 31 ballot question requires a majority vote.
