Residents give green light to major infrastructure project by less than 300 votes
Voters in the Fayetteville-Manlius school district today approved the district’s proposed $45.2 million facilities referendum that will bring much-needed infrastructure upgrades and repairs to three district schools.
After months of informational updates and public meetings on the proposal, voters approved the referendum by a vote of 1,073 to 810.
There are approximately 19,000 registered voters in the F-M school district, so the voter turnout of 1,883 (not counting absentee ballots) was about 10 percent.
“We are appreciative of the community support and we’ll begin in earnest to make plans for the project,” said Superintendent Craig Tice after the results were announced. “This has transcended two superintendents; nobody rushed through it, a lot of thought over a number of years was put into this to address our aging infrastructure.”
“We are very pleased the community supported us, and recognized the needs of our students,” said board of education President Daryll Wheeler.
The referendum will allow the district to move forward with renovations to Wellwood as well as make repairs to Enders Road Elementary and F-M High School and carry out energy efficient projects to all district buildings.
It will likely be about 18 months before construction at Enders Road Elementary School and Fayetteville-Manlius High School would begin, and nearly two years before Wellwood Middle School’s projects begin, according to the district.
With the proposal approved, the district anticipates construction will begin at Enders Road and the high school in June 2019. Projects included in the energy performance contract (EPC) are also expected to begin then, while Wellwood construction will not start until 2020.
The approved capital project also means an estimated 1.11 percent property tax levy increase to district residents.
According to William Furlong, F-M assistant superintendent for business services, residents would first only see the portion related to Enders Road, the high school and the EPC, which would be about a 0.3 percent increase that would take effect for the 2019-20 school year. For a town of Manlius home, the tax rate increase for that year would be estimated at $7.75 per $100,000 of taxable value.
Wellwood’s share of the tax levy increase, about 0.8 percent, would impact school tax rates for the 2020-21 school year. For a town of Manlius home, the tax rate increase for that portion of the project would be estimated at $20.69 per $100,000 of taxable value. Based upon the current tax rate, the total estimated tax rate increase of $0.28 per thousand, or $28.44 per $100,000 of taxable value, would be realized during the 2020-21 school year.
For a detailed breakdown of the F-M facilities project, visit the district website at fmschools.org/district.cfm?subpage=44729.
