GLASGOW — Members of the Barren County Board of Education have been waiting on state legislators to finalize a biannual budget so they can move forward on their latest district construction projects.

Joe Nance, of Ross, Sinclaire & Associates, presented a financing plan to board members during a special-called working meeting last week at the district office.

“Hopefully, I’m not presenting anything new. You have various projects you’d like to complete over the next several months. We need to see where we’re at and where we need to get,” Nance told board members.

The board approved six plans for construction and/or renovation projects in the district this year during the regular February meeting. Those plans include $66,000 for Red Cross Elementary, $275,880 for the Hillcrest facility on Roseville Road, $31,600 for Eastern Elementary, $1.01 million for North Jackson Elementary and two separate proposals for Barren County High School in the amounts of $1.5 million and $3.8 million for a total of approximately $6.7 million in construction/renovation expense.

Two new additional classrooms are scheduled to be built at North Jackson and extensive renovation and new construction will take place at the high school including a new athletic training facility, new or renovated football complex, an additional greenhouse and renovations to the media center and auditorium.

The board has $2.2 million in current bonding capacity for construction, but is slated to receive additional funding from the state on July 1, 2010, after the legislature passes a balanced budget.

A Kentucky House committee approved a proposed $17.5 billion two-year state budget late Tuesday. Their spending plan includes approximately $1.3 billion in general fund bonding for construction projects aimed at creating jobs. It would cut two instructional days for public schools, which is projected to save the state about $36 million each year. School districts could keep the days in the school calendar, but would have to foot the bill for them. The plan also maintains state support for the basic funding formula for elementary and secondary schools, minus the two days.

The General Assembly convened on Jan. 5 and has 60 legislative days in which to complete the business of the session. By law, the state legislature must finalize a budget by April 15. Nance told board members last week that they should know what their funding for the year will look like by the regularly scheduled April board meeting.

He projected the district should receive an additional $875,000 through the state’s School Facilities Construction Commission (SFCC) funds and the Facility Support Program of Kentucky (FSPK) match funds in the amount of $3.3 million on July 1. This would bring the board’s total construction bonding potential for the year to $6.4 million.

Superintendent Jerry Ralston said because of how the district’s construction funding is set up, they are assured there will be money for the projects they have planned this year.

“Whether these projects (for other school districts) were approved or not approved did not affect us,” Ralston said.

Barren County is designated as a growth district, which means the state allows the local school district to levy additional taxes to raise more construction revenue. Districts must levy a 5 cent equivalent tax to participate in the SFCC program that provides revenue for debt service for new facilities or major renovations, according to the statute. FSPK equalizes or matches the nickel when it is committed to debt service.

Growth districts are allowed to levy additional 5 cent equivalency taxes. In the case of Barren County, the district has two extra nickels.

Nance projected 2010 bonding capacity for each of the three nickels, the first that all districts can levy and the two additional ones, at $711,527 or $2.1 million.

“We have two growth nickels, capital outlay and building fund money. That is why we’re able to build so many schools,” Ralston said.

According to Lisa Gross, director, Division of Communications, Office of Legal, Legislative and Communications Services, Kentucky Department of Education, in the criteria outlined in Kentucky Revised Statute (KRS) 157.621, a district must have growth of at least 150 students in average daily attendance (ADA) and 3 percent overall growth for the five preceding years; have bonded debt of 80 percent of capital outlay from the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) funding program along with all revenue from the local facility tax and all receipts from state equalization on the local facility tax; have current student enrollment in excess of available classroom space; and a local school facility plan that has been approved by the Kentucky Board of Education and certified to the SFCC.

“We’re very secure in the funding we receive through those additional nickels,” Ralston said.

Nance went on to lay out the district’s outstanding local debt service schedule. The Barren County Board of Education currently has 10 bond issues totaling $72 million that are scheduled to be paid off between 2011 and 2029.

The district will have a debt service of approximately $3.9 million a year from 2010 through 2025, then $3.4 million in 2026 and 2027, $1.6 million in 2028 and $1.4 million in 2029 if no more current bonds are refinanced or any other bonds are issued. Nance said the 2001 Series bonds could be refinanced in a few months if rates remain low. Nance told the board he is monitoring the situation. Refinancing to a lower rate would save the district money in repayment costs.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.