Education

How much would a $75 million bond cost Riverhead taxpayers?

VERA CHINESE PHOTO | A school employee baked a cake in the shape of the Pulaski Street School for Thursday night's bond meeting.

A Riverhead Town taxpayer who owns a median-priced home would pay on average $185 extra per year for 20 years if the community were to pass a $75 million bond for infrastructure upgrades for Riverhead school buildings, according to current tax rates, school officials said.

A Riverhead Town homeowner whose house is worth $276,000 would pay an extra $39.47 for the 2013-14 school year, the year residents would start paying the bond if it were approved by voters.

That amount would increase to $210.48 in 2018, and then gradually decrease over the years.

District officials presented those numbers Thursday night at the high school, during the latest meeting of the Community Partnership for Revitalization — a group of community members, teachers and administrators dedicated to devising a community supported plan for improvements.

District officials declined to publicly release data for Southampton Town taxpayers because assistant superintendent for operations and finance Joseph Singleton said the equalization rates have not yet been set.

However, Mr. Singleton said Southampton Town residents could call his office to estimate what a $75 million bond would cost them personally.

“Each taxpayer will be able to determine , for their own home, what that tax increase will be,” Superintendent Nancy Carney said during the meeting.

At the committee’s last meeting in April, district officials presented an $80.2 million plan, though that amount has since been reduced to $78.4 million. Ms. Carney said the district can also use up to $3 million in an emergency repair funds for the project, bringing the total bond to just over $75 million.

“I really, really felt that we needed to get under $80 million,” Ms. Carney said during the meeting.

The plan calls for new construction at all district schools except for Phillips Avenue Elementary, and includes $3.8 million for new science labs at the high school.

The committee will make a formal presentation to the school board at Tuesday night’s board meeting. The board will then determine whether or not to adopt the plan and put it before the public for a vote.

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