Preliminary estimates show the proposed 900-seat Marietta High School auditorium coming in over budget from between half a million to several million dollars, The Marietta Daily Journal reports.

The project’s architect, Bob Sussenbach of CGLS of Atlanta, presented a preliminary cost breakdown of the theater calculated by Torrance Construction Company of LaGrange, totaling the project at $9.5 million, the MDJ says.

Marietta City Schools' plan was to build a multipurpose auditorium at Marietta High School for an estimated $9 million. The Marietta Board of Education agreed Aug. 16 to use a $7 million general-obligation bond to pay for the new auditorium.

The bond is contingent upon the SPLOST IV voter approval in a 2013 referendum, as the sales tax revenue will be used pay off the auditorium debt.

The bond will be placed on next year’s presidential primary election ballot. If city voters approve the five-year bond, construction should be done sometime in 2013.

If the 2012 bond passes but SPLOST IV fails, owners of homes valued at $200,000 will face a tax increase of about $11 a year to pay off the bond, starting in 2015.

Rejecting the 2012 bond would delay the project until the 2013 SPLOST IV vote. A yes at that point would allow construction to begin in 2014; a no vote would shelf the project indefinitely.