MFP Recap: Sept. 6, 2022 Committee Meeting

Members of the district’s master facilities committee met on Sept. 6 to receive an update on community engagement and discuss the project’s timeline for selecting a final plan. 

Superintendent Matt Miller, Treasurer Adam Zink and Chief Operations Officer Chris Passarge planned to share the facilities presentation with members of the District Parent Council and Presidents Council in September. Both of these parent organizations are made up of representatives from each Lakota school. Members of both groups are liaisons between their schools and the district, sharing information and feedback.

The community is invited to attend the next public meeting on Oct. 19 at the Liberty Township administration building. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. and will take place immediately before the Township Trustee meeting. 

The Board is also considering changing its Oct. 24 work session to a community meeting about the Master Facilities Plan (MFP).

The Board reviewed the current timeline which shows that a final plan would be approved at the November Board of Education meeting. President Lynda O’Connor reminded her fellow board members that they had discussed selecting a grade-band configuration before approving a final plan. “That gives (the facilities team) the opportunity to really drill down to the operational savings, which is important to our decision making process.” 

It was decided that the Board will vote on the grade-band configuration at its November meeting. In the meantime, the Board will still like the community to weigh in on the four options through ThoughtExchange.

Furthermore, the Board is interested in having Zink and Passarge look at operational efficiencies associated with MFP options three and four. Although the buildings are slightly different, these options have the same grade-band configuration: 

• A standalone preschool;
• Grades K-5;
• Grades 6-8; and 
• Grades 9-12.

Finally, Zink reviewed the differences between options three and four, which amounts to approximately $11 million. This is in response to Vice President Isaac Adi’s request for more information about the impact to taxpayers at the August committee meeting. Zink cautioned before reviewing the data shared, there are several variables to consider. This includes the current tax year 21 district valuation of $3.7 billion and an estimated interest rate of 4.5% over a 37 year amortization. 

To calculate the impact to community members, Zink and his team looked at appraised home values between $200,000 and $1 million. The document looks at the taxable value, which is 35% of a home’s appraised value, and then calculates the estimated annual increases to taxpayers based on the $11 million difference between MFP options three and four under these assumptions. For example, for a taxpayer with an appraised home value of $350,000, the difference between options three and four would be $18.19 per year.

Once the Board votes on a final grade configuration at its November business meeting, the committee will work on an updated MFP timeline at its December meeting.