Madison School District 'under budget' on new high school

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Story Published: Nov 16, 2009 at 4:45 PM MST

Story Updated: Nov 16, 2009 at 6:21 PM MST

By Steven Pope

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MADISON COUNTY - Eyewitness News has been told the Madison County School District won't have enough money to complete the new high school.

That claim is actually false.

In fact, the opposite is true.

Because of the recession, the school district will likely have some cash to spare.

"Dr. Thomas do you have enough money to complete the high school?" I asked.

"Absolutely. We are significantly under budget. With the economic crisis that has happened nationwide, the effect locally, prices have come down on bids and supplies," replied Madison County Superintendent Geoffrey Thomas.

"Will you have to ask the tax payer to foot another bond in the near future?" I questioned.

"No. Not for the construction at all," answered Thomas.

And while the recession is good for construction, it's bad for the district's other costs which use tax revenue from the state.

"The local tax payers are funding our bonds for construction," said Thomas.

"Why did you need this high school? I asked.

"First of all, the district is growing rapidly. We are averaging 100 new students per year. So every 3 years you're looking at building a new elementary. That trend will not stop. It will continue," explained Thomas.

"Is the new high school too big?" I inquired.

"We deliberately made the school larger than our current needs. You want to build it large enough to accommodate larger growth. That is sensible planning. So my answer to that is, it would be foolish to do otherwise," responded Thomas.

Madison School District previously passed two bonds totaling 60-million dollars to build the new high school as well as two elementary schools.

But a third bond will not be necessary to finish those projects.

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Since state law requires a balanced state budget, Gov. Otter is concerned that falling tax revenue might force the state to make much deeper cuts than currently planned. What do you think about the Idaho law requiring a balanced budget?

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