Board Debates Funding for School Auditorium

During Tuesday’s special called meeting, The Marietta Board of Education discussed details about a proposed multi-use auditorium at . The school is currently the only high school in Cobb County without a large auditorium, according to Chairwoman Irene Berens. 

The anticipated auditorium would serve a general purpose for Marietta High School students and staff, as well as a place for all of the city schools to come together for various meetings, Berens said.

If voters approve a SPLOST IV in March 2013, those funds would be used to pay off the auditorium bond, Berens said. The board spent a work session on Tuesday with its bond adviser, Dianne McNabb, director of Atlanta-based Public Financial Management Inc., discussing various financial scenarios related to the auditorium.

The board vote determined that a general obligation bond will be placed on the presidential preference primary ballot next spring for voters’ consideration. The board intends to establish the final bond amount and vote on the proposal by the end of September.

However, there are several factors that may change how much it will cost and for how long taxpayers will be paying off the auditorium debt.

The first of these contingencies depends on the extension of SPLOST III, a 1 percent sales tax which will conclude Dec. 31, 2013 if voters don’t decide to extend the tax. If SPLOST III is not extended, the district may need to raise property taxes to pay off the debt incurred by the multi-use auditorium.

Other variables include when the Secretary of State decides to hold the presidential primary, which could be set as late as June 14, 2012.  Also, the cost of the auditorium has not been set, as the board has not yet assigned an architect to the project.

Berens said she estimates a 700 to 900-seat auditorium would cost $8.6 million, a figure arrived at by a committee composed of Berens, MHS principal Leigh Colburn and others who discussed the project last fall. A $6.6 million bond would be placed before voters, while the board would use $2 million from its building fund to make up the difference, she said.

Board members considered several financing options during Tuesday’s meeting. Many seemed to prefer a 20-year bond that could be called in five years. Those supporting that financing option considered it favorable because it allowed for the bonds to be pre-paid by a potential SPLOST IV in March 2013 or raising the debt service millage.