Enterprise City Schools asks council for 1-cent sales tax to fund $101.7 million rebuilding projects
Jim Cook
Published: November 13, 2007
Updated: November 13, 2007
Published: November 13, 2007
Updated: November 13, 2007
Costs of rebuilding Hillcrest Elementary School and Enterprise High School
Enterprise High
Site work and utilities: $8.5 million
Academic building, includes shops, ROTC, fine arts, gym: $59.7 million
Auditorium building: $10.4 million
Tornado shelter: $285,000*
Stadium and athletic facilities, does not include baseball, softball, tennis facilities: $8.1 million
Total: $87.2 million
Hillcrest Elementary School
Sitework and building: $14.2 million
Tornado shelter: $195,000*
Total: $14.4 million
*Seventy-five percent of the cost of the tornado shelters will be covered by FEMA. The figure shown is the school system’s portion.
Projected cash on hand for rebuilding
$63 million from state allocations, insurance payments, FEMA funds and other sources
ENTERPRISE – Enterprise City School Superintendent Jim Reese said he needs $101.7 million to build a new high school and elementary school. He has about $63 million on hand. Now it’s up to Reese and the Enterprise City Council to find what they can raise – or what they can cut – to make up the $38 million difference.
The city council and school board will meet again in two weeks to discuss how to finance the new schools. Reese has asked for a one-cent sales tax. Mayor Kenneth Boswell has suggested having financial gurus for the city and the school system look into how the two entities can pool existing resources and borrowing power to get the job done.
Reese revealed the cost estimates and preliminary plans for the construction of a new Enterprise High School and Hillcrest Elementary School Tuesday night at a special city council meeting. The two schools were destroyed in a March 1 tornado that killed eight Enterprise High students, the deadliest U.S. school-related tornado disaster in 40 years.
The new Hillcrest would be built on land formerly occupied by Hillcrest and its neighbor, Enterprise High. The new high school would be built on property recently purchased by the city school board on Boll Weevil Circle.
Plans for the new high school include a three-story academic building, an 1,800 to 2,000-seat auditorium, a tornado shelter and a stadium and athletic facilities. The academic building would contain more than 90 classrooms. The old high school had 71 classrooms.
After presenting the plans and the costs, Reese made his pitch to the council regarding how to fund the construction costs not covered by a state appropriation, insurance money and FEMA payments. He asked for a one-cent sales tax increase, which would generate about $4 million per year in revenue.
“In my heart I believe that Enterprise is not like a lot of other communities,” he said. “… I think the people of Enterprise will support a one-cent sales tax to get these two schools rebuilt.”
Reese’s presentation was met with questions and comments by city council members.
District 5 councilman Paul Russell looked at cost estimates and noted the bare bones costs of getting an academic building constructed at Enterprise High.
“For 68.2 million we can get these kids in school,” he said.
District 2 councilman Tommy Johnson recommended taking a careful look at all the options available to fund the schools.
“This is a serious subject and we’re going to do it in a timely manner, but we’re going to be prudent,” he said. “We’re going to turn over every stone and look at it from every angle.”
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