Marysville will be funding more than a $1 million in improvements to the Marysville High School gymnasium, thanks in part to rising revenue from special taxing districts.
District treasurer Todd Johnson told the Marysville Board of Education at a Thursday meeting that the improvements will include a new gym floor and bleachers, as well as replacing a troublesome HVAC unit with one that includes air conditioning. He said work is planned to begin in the spring.
Johnson said the floor and bleachers will be obtained through a state collective purchasing group which allows districts to secure low prices on equipment and services without going through the bidding process. The HVAC unit and installation will be put out for bids as early as next month.
Johnson said the floor work will come with a price tag of about $245,000, while the bleachers will add another $270,000. The HVAC will be the most expensive portion of the renovation at more than $600,000, bringing the total project cost to about $1,115,000.
Johnson said each element of the renovation meets a critical need.
While HVAC upgrades are often an unseen portion of a building renovation, in the case of the MHS gym project it might be the most important. The current unit is found at the top of the gym ceiling, on the inside of the roof, and often leaks water, according to Johnson. This leads to safety issues for athletes below and has caused damage to the gym floor.
“That’s a big eyesore that you can just look up at the ceiling and see,” Johnson said. “That’s an outdated and inefficient system that does not have AC.”
Johnson said the new unit will be placed above the roof and would have air conditioning. Board president Sue Devine noted that she has attended a graduation ceremony in the gymnasium and the lack of air conditioning was an issue.
Johnson said bleacher upgrades are needed to make the facility ADA compliant, incorporating such things as wheelchair accessibility and handrails. He said the 30-year-old motors that extend and retract the bleachers also don’t work correctly any more.
He said the new bleachers, which will include a new media platform on the west wall, will increase the capacity from 1,600 to more than 2,000.
The treasurer said the gymnasium floor might appear fine, but it is at the end of its life.
“They can only be sanded so many times and we’ve been told that the last time we sanded that gym floor down is the last time,” Johnson said. “We can’t do it again.”
Johnson said the project is expensive and it might appear wise to tackle the upgrades separately over time, but that isn’t really feasible.
“It doesn’t make sense to fix the floor and still have a leaky HVAC system,” he said.
“It doesn’t make sense to fix the bleachers and then not do the floor, because then when it came time to do the floor you’d have to tear the bleachers out.
“Really, the only way to do it is to do it all at once.”
Johnson said the district is able to tackle the project now, in part, because it is caught up on much of its expensive asphalt work at the various buildings. Money set aside in the districts Permanent Improvement (PI) fund for annual paving work over the next two years, can be put toward the project. Johnson said some asphalt money will remain earmarked for emergency projects.
Also bolstering the project is increase revenue flowing into the PI fund from Tax Increment Finance (TIF) districts, special taxing boundaries around certain areas of growth within the school district.
Johnson said in fiscal year 2019 TIF funding increased by $57,000 and then a year later it jumped by another $217,000.
The district receives two TIF payments each fiscal year and the first installment for this year is $281,000 higher than the first one from last year. Johnson explained that even if the second half payment only matches last year’s number, the district will still see a 25% increase over 2020 TIF money, with a potential for a much higher number. Because the district only budgeted for a 2% increase in TIF funds, the money represents a substantial influx of unexpected cash.
Johnson explained that all of the TIF money does not go strictly toward PI projects, however, due to promises made during a successful 2018 levy campaign. In that campaign the district promised to shift some money from the expanding PI fund into the general fund to cover operating expenses.
For example, in fiscal year 2020 the district took $2.48 million into the PI fund, but $1.7 million of that was transfered into the general fund, Johnson said.
Later in the meeting, Johnson was awarded a new five-year contract by a unanimous vote.
The contract, which begins on Aug. 1, will pay Johnson a base salary of $144,284, with 3% increases each of the next four year. Johnson’s salary for this year is $137,413.
Other compensation included in the contract are a $15,000 tax-deferred annuity each year and a “pick-up” of his payments into the School Employee Retirement System, as well other small stipends such as $100 monthly payment for mobile communication devices.
Board members heaped uniform praise on the work Johnson provides. More than one board member used the words “diligent” and “creative” to describe the treasurer’s work. Devine said Johnson pays close attention to the district’s money, but is also interested in student achievement.
Board member Nan Savidge said Johnson “has his eye on the ball, all of the time.”