Bradley County Schools 'pay as you go' capital outlay plan considered

Nicholas Lillios attends a meeting Thursday at the Bradley County Board of Education.
Nicholas Lillios attends a meeting Thursday at the Bradley County Board of Education.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Bradley County Board of Education Chairman Nicholas Lillios has opened "a starting point for discussion" for a "pay as you go" long-term educational capital outlay plan.

The plan, which seeks to do away with bond issues and debt service, calls for a 15 percent county property tax hike and a $2 million annual commitment from the school system.

"We can have a 40-year capital improvement plan with this revenue stream," said Lillios in a recent meeting.

A 15 percent property tax increase would add an additional 28 cents to Bradley County's current rate of $1.8721 per $100 of assessed property value, which amounts to an additional tax of $105 per year on a $150,000 home.

Lillios estimated that the proposed tax increase would bring an estimated $5 million per year to local government coffers, with Bradley County receiving $3 million and Cleveland receiving $2 million.

If the county share is dedicated to educational capital outlay, the school system's "sacrifice" would be $2 million -- about 3 percent -- of its annual $65 million budget, said Lillios.

The Bradley County Commission and the school board would be contractually obligated to put the $5 million "strictly toward capital improvements," he said.

Lillios said he wants the Bradley County Commission to consider the proposal for this budget cycle, which would put off the construction of a comprehensive overhaul for Lake Forest Middle School by two years while capital funds accrued.

Figures dating back to 2011 projected the makeover to cost between $12 million and $14 million. The proposed overhaul entails building a 57-classroom central academic building and demolishing nearly a dozen 40-year-old classroom pods spread across the 75-acre campus.

If implemented, the plan would save $16 million in interest on Lake Forest, enough to build another school, said Lillios.

Board member Chris Turner voiced both praise and concern for the proposal.

"I love the idea, I love the structure, but I don't like the premise of that plan is our commitment to a significant cut in our budgets," said Turner.

The $2 million cut only amounts to an additional $1.4 million cut in future budgets, since $600,000 in annual payments to Cleveland as part of a sales tax settlement is coming to an end and could be recommitted to capital outlay, said Lillios.

Turner said he favored a savings program, but that he considered holding back $500,000 per year for capital needs as "appropriate," which the school system managed to do in the current fiscal year.

The potential loss of funding for a comprehensive technology upgrade for the school system was a big issue, said Turner.

The tax hike is four times larger than a 7-cent tax hike proposal that was recently put before the Bradley County Commission. The proposal, made by Commissioner Thomas Crye, died for lack of a second motion.

Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.

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