Whether to approve three new buildings, expansions at several others and upgrades at every Lenoir County school will be a choice voters will make at the May spring primary election.

They will decide by approving – or rejecting – a $69.7 million spending plan to provide bricks and mortar for schools. Lenoir County commissioners unanimously agreed Monday to place the question on the ballot and let voters make the choice.

“This would be a 20-year bond issue,” county Manager Mike Jarman said. “That doesn’t mean the tax rate would be up for 20 years. It’s a variable thing. It depends on when the bonds are issued, the time of the payout, the debt on construction. We should be able to reduce it about the 10th to 12th year.”

If the referendum is approved, property owners will see their taxes go up by at least 5 cents per $100 in property value for at least 10 to 12 years, and possibly longer. And, depending on how the state decides to use lottery money, they could also see as much as a 4.5 cent increase to support interest on the borrowed money.

Schools anticipate receiving about $500,000 annually from the lottery, Jarman said. If that money doesn’t come through, the 4.5 cents would be needed to pay interest on the bonds.

A house valued today at $100,000 would see a tax increase of $50 to $95 annually, if no revaluation is held during the life of the repayment.

School officials want to combine Contentnea Elementary and Savanna Middle schools into a single K-8 school, and build a new Pink Hill Elementary School, at an estimated cost of $20 million. Teachers Memorial and Bynum elementary schools would be in one building, and the first phase of improvements at Southeast Elementary School, would cost an estimated $17 million. Additions and renovations to La Grange Elementary School ($7.8 million), Banks Elementary School ($5.5 million) and Moss Hill Elementary ($5.7 million) would round up the major construction.

Lenoir County Schools receives $1.6 million annually in sales tax revenue, and the school system has saved $2.6 for construction. Both funds would be used for the building and renovation plan.

School enrollment is declining and school board members use the enrollment projections to justify combining schools.

Getting information about school needs will be the job of the school board, Jarman told commissioners. The county will not be involved in that process.

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