Red Bank voters, faced with a $6.75 million ballot question in November, will get their first chance to grill Superintendent Jared Rumage on the issue Thursday night.
Rumage is scheduled to make a presentation on the project at 7 p.m. at the Red Bank Public Library, 84 West Front Street.
If approved by voters, the financing would pay for new windows and masonry work at the middle school, seen above, and for a new roof and upgrades to the heating and cooling systems at the primary school.
But it won’t increase property tax bills, officials said when the referendum plan was unveiled earlier this month. That’s because repayment of the debt would be timed to start immediately following the payoff of existing debt in June, 2021, and because the New Jersey Department of Education has agreed to pickup 40 percent of the cost, they said.
Here’s the ballot wording:
PROPOSAL
The Board of Education of the Borough of Red Bank in the County of Monmouth, New Jersey is authorized: (a) to undertake various renovations, alterations, improvements and upgrades at the Red Bank Middle School and Red Bank Primary School, including acquisition and installation of fixtures, equipment and sitework; (b) to appropriate $6,750,000 for such purposes; and (c) to issue bonds of the school district to finance project in the principal amount of $6,750,000.
The final eligible costs of the projects approved by the Commissioner of Education are $6,750,000. This project includes $0 for school facility construction elements in addition to the facilities efficiency standards developed by the Commissioner of Education or not otherwise eligible for State support pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:7G-5(g). The State debt service aid percentage will equal 40% of the annual debt service due with respect to the final eligible costs of the project. The Board of Education is authorized to transfer funds between the projects approved at this election.
