Colfax school board approves sale of $7.2 million in general obligation bonds
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Colfax Board of Education has approved the issuance and sale of $7.2 million in general obligation bonds to fund the projects voters approved in the November referendum.
The Colfax school board held a special meeting December 7 to authorize the general obligation bonds.
The $7.2 million will pay for the cost of district-wide school improvements consisting of additions, renovations and remodeling for classroom space and technical education/Science, Technology, Engineering and Math expansion; safety, security and building infrastructure improvements; demolition of temporary classrooms; construction of a bus maintenance building; replacement of buses; and acquisitions of furnishings, fixtures and equipment.
According to information provided to the school board by Robert W. Baird & Co., the school district has a debt limit of $32.76 million, based on 10 percent of the equalized value of the district of $327.6 million.
The school district currently has $1.66 million in debt outstanding.
The unused debt margin, not including the $7.2 million for the school improvement projects, is $31.1 million.
According to the information from Baird, some of the largest taxpayers in the school district include an individual farm in the Town of Colfax with an assessed value of $2.03 million; Whitetail Golf Course with an assessed value of $1.13 million; a timber manufacturing facility in the Village of Colfax at $1.08 million; Capital Partners LTD (low income housing) with an assessed value of $672,100; the Cedar Country Cooperative convenience store and gas station with an assessed value of $661,300; the Colfax Health and Rehabilitation Center with an assessed value of $660,000; the Village Pointe Mall (restaurant and salon) with an assessed value of $608,000; and a grocery store with an assessed value of $574,200.
The Colfax Board of Education unanimously approved authorizing the general obligation bonds.
According to a timeline provided to the school board at a previous meeting by Tom Twohig of SDS Architects, design development for the project is expected to be complete in February of 2017; the construction documents will be complete and bidding completed in April of 2017; construction would start in May of 2017; and the projects would be completed by August of 2017.