Goshen Community Schools are planning more than $8 million in facility upgrades. The school board Monday agreed to issue up to $8.4 million in general obligation bonds.
More than half of that will be for a second round of upgrades to Goshen Jr. High School’s HVAC system. Other improvements include asphalt at the junior high, roofing work at the junior high and some elementary schools, and new carpeting at the junior high and Parkside Elementary.
The project won’t raise the property tax rate. Financial advisor Karl Cender told board members that the increase will be offset by existing debt being paid off. “If you look at the tax rates . . . you see that they’re coming down so quickly and even the debt service, so we’re just trying to keep that rate stable at this time,” Cender said.
The school corporation hopes to pay off the bond in three years, although the bond resolutions allow for up to eight years.
Superintendent Jim Dubois said the district’s operations fund is pretty tight with day-to-day expenses, so it tries to pay for bigger projects with short-term borrowing. But he said Indiana’s property tax reform will make it harder to raise taxes for facility upgrades.
The school corporation plans to issue the bonds later this fall.
