Most Idaho school districts want their new facilities money all at once.
House Bill 521, passed into law this year, will deliver $1 billion to schools for facilities upgrades, and districts have the option to take their share in a lump sum or in annualized installments over the next decade.
The $1 billion comes from state bonds, part of a total $1.5 billion investment in school facilities through HB 521. The Department of Education — which is responsible for distributing the funds — doesn’t yet have concrete data on school districts’ preferred method for receiving the money.
“But everything we’re hearing from schools anecdotally is that most plan to take the lump sum payment,” said Scott Graf, communications director for the department.
That includes large and small districts. Murtaugh School District — enrollment 388 — plans to take the lump sum, said Superintendent Michele Capps. Same goes for the Lewiston Independent School District, which has 4,512 students.
Lewiston will receive about $17 million from HB 521. The money is slated for upgrades to windows and doors along with potential building expansions that would give programs, such as orchestra, more space, according to Lewiston Superintendent Lance Hansen.
Hansen said there are a couple reasons that the lump sum is more advantageous. First, districts can maximize the value of the money in the short term. Facilities construction and maintenance costs increase regularly, making far-off expenses difficult to predict.
“We’ve seen projects escalate 10, 15, 20% just in a year,” Hansen said.
At the same time, inflation is driving down the value of the dollar, meaning $1.7 million — what Lewiston would receive in 10-year installments — won’t go as far in years to come if inflation persists.
By taking the installments, “you’re hedging your bets, and you’re losing value every year on the dollar,” Hansen said. “In the lump sum, you have your 10-year plan and you address your needs as soon as you can get to them, thereby maximizing the dollars.”
The second disadvantage to the installment plan is that districts would have to use the annualized payment to buy down any bonds and levies before spending the money on facilities upgrades.
The installments are paid through the school district facilities fund — a creation of House Bill 292 from last year’s legislative session — which prioritized spending starting with bonds and levies, followed by facilities.
“In our situation, none of that money would have gone toward our facilities,” Hansen said.
The HB 292 requirements don’t restrict spending for lump sums. That money can go directly to facilities.
To see estimates of how much each district will get from HB 521, click here. Totals are in the far right column.
Even the districts that elect for the lump sum, won’t get it all at once in a big check, however. State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield told the State Board of Education last month that the money will go out in waves over about six months, starting this fall.
Critchfield said the phased approach should avoid flooding the construction market and inflating costs. “Not every district is going to be ready to shovel dirt, anyway,” she said.
Either way, the surge of facilities money is unlikely to have a significant impact on the construction industry, according to Wayne Hammon, CEO of the Idaho Association of General Contractors.
“Most school districts are going to receive a small portion, an allocation that will only address a few of the mountain of needs that they have,” Hammon told Idaho Education News. “I would imagine that 90% of this money goes into repair and maintenance of existing facilities.”
