The Lisbon School district could generate roughly $5.8 million in Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) dollars after approving their revenue purpose statement in the last election.
That statement allowed the district to borrow against money generated from the statewide penny optional sales tax that now sunsets in 2050.
Matt Gillaspie of Piper Sandler noted that the district could borrow up to $5.8 million from the SAVE funds over the next 20 years and pay that borrowing down with revenues from that fund.
The Lisbon School Board will be holding a work session Wednesday, Feb. 23, to discuss potential building projects that money could help complete from their immediate needs and short-term goals.
Borrowing the full $5 million could cap any borrowing capacity for the district for the next 10 years.
Lisbon School board members Allan Mallie and John Prasil, who both serve on the school’s facility committee, noted the amount of money proposed in the SAVE fund would allow the district to complete a number of projects still currently incomplete from the last bonded project, as well as possibly construct a new designated classroom for career and technical education offerings at the Lisbon School building.
“I definitely do not want to go out and draw up to that $5 million cap, but there’s a number of projects within this building that could be completed with additional monies, several even possibly being completed this summer if we wanted,” Prasil said.
Some of those improvements include completing the concession stand at the new track facility, adding the bleacher seating for the auditorium, and installing air conditioning in the Lions Den.
There are also a number of smaller projects, like replacing partitions in bathrooms throughout the school and safety items that still need to be completed. The biggest proposed expense the district would be investigating would be a new classroom addition for the career and technical education program.
The SAVE monies are not a new tax for the district, it’s a fund all citizens in the community and county pay when they are shopping in Linn County. The fund does not need to be approved by the general public for use for needed expenses. The district currently uses the fund to help pay for buses, the 1:1 computer initiative and paying the remaining debt on the Lisbon Early Childhood Center project. The district refinanced the LECC SAVE bonds recently, which lowered interest rates on that project and will save the district money in the continued repayment.
Lisbon school board member Robyn Richey noted she was reticent to borrow all of the $5 million at once.
Lisbon school board member Abbe Stensland asked if it is possible to borrow that amount and hold funds in escrow for additional projects, noting the low interest rates at many banks.