Putnam County voters to weigh $300M in schools bonds in November

The Putnam County School District has grand plans for a complete overhaul of schools here. To do that, the district needs funding — and voters will be the ones to decide if the district should get it.

On Thursday, the district presented a 30-year plan for a revamped school district. 

The high schools are expected to be rebuilt with special facilities funding from the state, while the plan for elementary schools throughout Putnam would be funded by a series of general obligation bonds for 30-year terms each, that would total $300 million, if voters say yes to the bond referendum set for the Nov. 8 election.

If approved, the district would begin with a $50 million bond for a 30-year term and follow up with additional bonds, as needed, so as "not to saddle taxpayers with the full cost of a $300 million bond up front," said Rhonda Odum, chief finance officer for the district. That would also allow the district to refinance if interest rates drop over time, Odum said.

The ballot question is as follows:

Shall the School District of Putnam County fund construction, renovation and replacement of public school facilities throughout the District, including implementation of safety enhancements and instructional technology upgrades, by issuing general obligation bonds in multiple series, in a total principal amount not exceeding $300,000,000, bearing interest at not exceeding maximum legal rates, maturing within thirty years, and secured by the full faith and credit and ad-valorem taxing power of the District?

For Bonds ____

Against Bonds ____

Courtesy of the Putnam County School District 

Odum said the district knows this is a big request and is hoping that by issuing bonds in a series, with the ability to refinance over time, that taxpayers would not be subjected to the full weight of the $300M all at once.

Since it is a series, rather than a single bond, that does leave open the likelihood that taxpayers would be paying this debt up to 30 years after the final bond is issued.

If more than 50% of Putnam County voters this November agree to fund the district’s plan for new buildings, the action would allow the district to apply for several general obligation bonds. Essentially, the district would be taking out government loans that the voters promise to pay back over time so that the district can overhaul the schools.

The loan payoff would be funded through additional property tax assessments for a finite length of time, depending on the value of a property.

A full monetary breakdown can be found on the school district’s website. Superintendent Rick Surrency said that the general obligation bonds would pay for new elementary schools, and special facilities funding from the state is being used to build the three new high schools. 

Crescent City schools are the first on deck for the district’s revitalization plan because pre-construction is set to start for a new Crescent City Junior-Senior High School and South Putnam elementary school in 2023, according to school district documents. Pre-construction for a Central Putnam elementary school is slated to begin in 2024. 

“The taxes kind of are what they are,” said Thomas Bolling,  assistant superintendent for support services, “(Tax payments) are, most often, at least it is in my experience, broken up over 12 months so it’s a little bit more palatable.” 

According to the school district’s website, the cost varies depending on a property’s taxable value. For example, if a property is appraised at $475,000 but only has a taxable value of $450,000, the taxpayer might pay about $7,300 over a 30-year period, and the tax may not be applied every year.

But there are a lot of unknowns.

“This is strictly an estimation,” school district officials state on the district’s website. 

“The true increase will depend on the timing and amount of bond sales, the interest rate at (the) time of each sale, the fact that your property value will change over time so you might advance from one appraised value line to the next, the millage amount (tax rate) required to meet the debt service obligation each year, the growth rate of the county taxable value of (the) property, ect.”

While the school district has held several public forums on the master plan to explain how the district plans to pay for each portion, confusion remains. 

Some of the confusion and frustration was displayed last week as school district officials presented plans to the Crescent City Commission.

Residents packed commission chambers to listen to Bolling and Director of Community Relations Ashley McCool share information and try to dispel local rumors.

They also heard from residents who were displeased that the planned rebuild of Crescent City Junior-Senior High School, which is expected to be funded with grant funding from the state, would not include an auditorium.

Commissioner Lisa DeVitto asked, based on local chatter, if the district’s plan was to demolish the entire George C. Miller Middle School. 

“That’s incorrect,” Bolling told the crowd. “Two things that make that property the most valuable, outside of it sitting on a lake, is the fact that … it does have a very nice gym and a very nice auditorium.”

The school, located on Prospect Street, is not presently used as a school. However, members of the Fruitland Peninsula Historical Society use part of the school to house a historical exhibit and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office uses the building as its South Putnam base since taking over law enforcement duties from the Crescent City Police Department last year. 

Although Bolling and McCool answered numerous questions from the crowd of residents Thursday, some still wanted the district officials to commit to more community forums. 

Winter Park resident Danny Miller, who is the grandson of George C. Miller, asked the city commission and school district officials to pledge that they would host a town hall within 30 days of Thursday’s meeting to address more issues and create greater “transparency.” 

“I’m sorry. I’m just disappointed,” he said. 

The district said there have been forums hosted in Crescent City at the high school that no one attended and the information is posted on the district’s website. 

“That was the purpose of our forums,” McCool said. “We were hoping to get more participation.” 

The school district hosted a community forum on January 13 at Crescent City Junior-Senior High School to discuss the school revitalization plan and another on April 21 at Interlachen Junior-Senior High School, which was conducted via Zoom.

She said Friday that district officials had planned to host another set of forums in each area of the county prior to November.