Vote slated for Sharon Springs school project

PHOTOGRAPHER: R. J. Kelly

Voters in the seven towns encompassed by the Sharon Springs Central School District will decide Oct. 21 on a proposed $3 million building renovation and improvement.

The district’s Board of Education voted Monday night to proceed with the full scope of plans for projects outlined last month.

Although at least $67,000 of the proposed project would use special aid under the state’s Expanding Children’s Education and Learning (EXCEL) program, 95 percent of the work will be reimbursed from regular state building aid, district Business Manager Anthony DiPace said Tuesday.

Tax impacts will be minimal, according to DiPace and district Superintendent Paterson Green.

Under what he called a “worst case scenario,” DiPace said that the project would add about $12,000 per year, for 15 years, to the total amount the district raises from taxes.

“That’s less than one-half percent of the tax levy,” DiPace said.

Last month, school officials heard architect Daniel Wilson Fay and municipal finance specialist Richard G. Timbs outline a range of options for a building and grounds improvement project that ranged from a total of $1.4 million to $3 million.

Over the past few weeks, discussions with state Education Department officials have determined that all of the proposals in the larger project, plus some additional work, will qualify for maximum state aid, Green said.

Plans to invest interest from tax anticipation investments will be used to offset costs that are are not fully covered by state aid, the superintendent said.

The district includes portions of seven towns: Sharon, Seward, Carlisle, Canajoharie, Root, Cherry Valley, and Roseboom.