Our district has waited for what seems like an eternity to build a new school. The hope of building a new school began almost ten years ago with the input of Nexus pipeline tax funding. Finally, groundbreaking and site work began in July 2022 but was paused due to an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court by Lorain County Auditor Snodgrass. Even though the Ohio Supreme Court recently denied the appeal and that issue is now settled, the time that has passed affected the financing of the project. Inflation rates, interest rates, and construction costs have all increased. The cost of the project has increased from ~$49 million to ~$67 million. The project cannot continue until this is resolved.
To move forward with the project the OFCC (Ohio Facilities Construction Commission) will be asked to adjust their funding amount based on new project costs as well as paying that amount at an earlier date to allow for refinancing the project appropriately. While Nexus has been short paying their tax bills at approximately 47% for the last five years, they will now begin to make the tax payments from the settled agreement (at 58%) before the appeal to the Supreme Court. The project should be able to begin again in March 2025, if we are able to secure the support from OFCC. If this adjustment from OFCC is not agreed upon the project will continue to be delayed. The Margaretta Board of Education may ask the community to consider a bond to help bridge that gap in funding in order to allow the project to proceed.
The bond that remains on the ballot for the November 5th election does not provide any funding towards the new school. It is a renewal levy that continues our day-to-day operations. Nexus funding also contributes to district operations.
Superintendent Ed Kurt and Treasurer Diane Keegan interviewed with radio host Stephen Shoffner about the current status of the new building project. The interview and a timeline of the project delays and progress are shared below for you to understand more about the status of our new school building.