Colton to try again on school remodel bonds

Colton school district voters will see a revised bond proposal for the remodeling of their school on the ballot April 26. School district officials have dropped the overall cost of the project approximately a quarter of million.

The bond proposal has been reduced by $164,000, from $5,160,000 to $4,996,000. The proposal calls for a 20-year issue for the bonds.

November’s bond measure fell 40 votes short of receiving the required 60 percent approval rate for a funding measure.

School officials in January conducted two public meetings to ask citizens for input on why the bond failed. With those comments, Superintendent Nate Smith and the committee working on the project worked in February to revise the proposal.

Residents can learn about the current remodeling plan on the school’s web site and through newsletters from the school district.

Deadline for filing the proposal with the auditor’s office is March 11 for the April 26 ballot.

The original overall project cost was projected at $10.2 million and the current overall proposal is $9.97 million.

The original tax levy for the bond was estimated at $3.23 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Smith said the rate for the new bond levy would be $2.66 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

If district voters approve the revised $4,996,000 bond proposal, the school district will qualify for a matching grant through a modernization program conducted through the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. This would bring the total cost of the remodel to $9.97 million.

“Right now our architect is working on new plans. There are three areas we have told them to work on,” Smith said.

The remodel plan has been revised in three areas; the school gymnasium, the bus garage and the wall revision in the school. The bus garage would be smaller.

The architect firm in Lewiston, Costello and Kom, is working on the plans for the school.