LFC Comments by Brian Massie, Concord Resident
We were asked to publish the following comments by the Riverside School District Concerned Taxpayers.
If you are interested in helping fund their effort, here is a link to their Go Fund Me page:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/vote-no-on-issue-1-riverside-school-dist-levy?qid=24f391899f817eeefb48d95a1705d6bd
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WHY VOTE NO!! ON ISSUE 1 THE RIVERSIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT BOND LEVY?
The school board is NOT UNANIMOUS in its decision to bring this issue to the voters. Two of the five school board members voted against this bond issue stating that they both believe RHS and JRW can be renovated and updated rather than being torn down and rebuilt. They also stated that the current economic situation, inflation, cost of gas, supply chain, and global political issues make it unwise to proceed at this time.
The proposed bond levy is intended to raise $147,725,000.00. HOWEVER, the levy will carry interest at an expected 4% over 37 years which will add $135,551,256.48 to amount to a total of $283,278,256.48! that YOU will have to participate in paying over the next 37 YEARS!!! At $638,009.59 per month. This is NOT a vote to spend only $147,725,000 dollars, and we get a brand new school campus.
The construction industry is projecting that projects of this magnitude will actually cost about 35% to 40% MORE than what the bond levy will raise.
The school district has NO IDEA what they are actually going to build other than to say they are going to build a new campus. There are no blueprints, specifications,
construction schedules of ANY KIND for what they want to construct.
The study that is being used to support any costs projected for this project was created in October 2013 and is NINE YEARS OUTDATED!! This is, at best, a GUESS at what a school campus would cost to build.
Many construction professionals and bankers have also stated that this amount is AT LEAST 35% to 40% low. The entire global construction industry is presently facing supply chain problems and are experiencing an inability to obtain construction materials across the spectrum of material types. Suppliers in many cases are refusing PREPAID orders for construction materials and have NO IDEA when materials might become available.
For example: Concord Fire Station is already 22.5% over its $8 Million Dollar budget and has just recently broken ground!! ($8M was supposed to be for TWO stations/not ONE)
Don’t forget that renewal operating levies will be coming up in about 4 years!
VOTE NO!!! ON THIS BOND/LEVY ISSUE 1!!
Paid for by Riverside School District Concerned Taxpayers
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Categories: Riverside S.D., Uncategorized