2024 Capital Project

Why is the District proposing a capital project vote now?

Capital projects are used by school districts for restorations, renovations, and in some cases, expansion. They typically occur on a regular basis (every five to seven years) outside of the general fund budget. Capital projects have the benefit of utilizing money from our Capital Reserve Fund (savings set aside for this purpose), and enable us to generate revenue through NYS Building Aid. Due to the significant cost of these types of projects, they typically do not fit into a regular yearly budget. The VCS 2024 Capital Project addresses a variety of pressing issues, including safety and security, space needs, renovations, and restorations. This process is similar for a homeowner when a home ages, needs repairs, and potentially needs more space.

How were the project’s components chosen?

More than 650 faculty, staff, students and community members filled out surveys regarding facility needs, and there were multiple meetings with Leadership Staff to review the results. The District also analyzed enrollment trends and utilized the Building Conditions Survey (BCS), which is mandated by the State every five years. The initial scope of the project was significant (hundreds of millions of dollars). As a result, an Executive Team (Superintendent, Asst. Supt. for Business, Facilities Director, Construction Manager, Architects, & Financial Advisor) met frequently to narrow down the scope of the project. Safety concerns, space issues, BCS requirements, and academic program enhancements received top priority.

What is the total cost of this proposed project,  and how will it affect my taxes?

VCS leadership is aware of the financial impact a large Capital Project has on community members. Careful project planning will minimize the impact on taxpayers. The majority of the project’s cost ($60,606,501) will be funded by available New York State Building Aid. A substantial portion of the remaining “local share” will be paid for using $28,431,861 from the District’s Capital Reserve Fund which is specifically used on capital projects. The District’s retiring debt service ($4,653,257) will further reduce the impact on taxpayers. In total, more than $93 million will be used to offset the total cost of the project ($99,419,031) that is proposed. The remaining “new” local share ($5,727,412) would be paid for through the local tax levy. Based on this calculation, the project would cost a homeowner who owns a $300,000 full value house less than $49 a year for 15 years. Additional savings would occur with Basic or Enhanced STAR. The tax increase would be phased in over three years beginning in 2026-27.

Isn’t State Aid just my tax dollars too?

The Victor Central School District would receive $60.6 million in Building Aid from New York State for this project. This money is considered State tax dollars, raised by the State, for capital project improvements for all New York State schools. This project will allow the State dollars to flow back to the VCS school community. If the Victor Central School District does not use this Building Aid, then it will go to a different community in the State. The money is not returned to the taxpayers.

What if the capital project vote does not pass?

A capital project allows the District to receive partial reimbursement of the project’s cost through State Building Aid. The critical safety requirements and building restoration needs would still be absolutely necessary. If the referendum does not pass, these requirements would still need to be addressed, but potentially through the general fund budget without the benefit of State Building Aid. In addition, the State Building Aid for the project is only available to Victor Central School if a Capital Project vote is successful. This Building Aid would be distributed to another community if a project is not approved.

When will the work take place?

The project would be completed in phases to minimize the impact of construction on our ongoing educational activities. After final design submission, it’s expected that the State Education Department’s approval for the project’s first phase of work would be received in 2026, allowing Phase 1 construction to begin that summer.

How do I obtain more information about the project?

If you have questions, contact our Superintendent via email at terranovat@victorschools.org or go to our website at www.victorschools.org. In addition, we have many opportunities to discuss the project throughout our community, which are listed above.

How sure is the District that the state will actually send the 60.6 million dollars in aid for this upcoming Capital Project and not go back on its promise?

According to Ben Maslona, Executive Vice President of Fiscal Advisors & Marketing, the District went through the extended process of working to obtain the aid so that the state could determine, in advance, how much aid (in particular for the additions) would be generated.  We are extremely confident in the state aid number promised to us as the rules for obtaining this aid have been in play for over 20 years (since 2001).  In the past, the state has never gone back on a promise to pay building aid for a project in any school district in NY State as long as the rules and guidelines are followed. We have based all of our planning on the laws and regulations in place as of today.

What is the difference between the proposed new local share of taxes being $5,727,412 but the ballot measure saying we are authorizing a tax not to exceed $70,987,170? Which am I really voting for and how do you clarify it?

The $70,987,170 is the difference between the total price of the project ($99,419,031) and the amount of money we have in our Capital Reserve Fund ($28,431,861). The referendum has to be written this way. The 70 million does not take into account the $60,606,501 that the state is giving us in building aid and the $4,653,257 that is taken off the total cost because of debt relief. So, the actual proposed new local share is $5,727,412. 

The actual vote is for the $99,419,031 project, but the proposed new local share will be no more than $5,727,412. 

Is the $16.08 per $1,000 increase based on assessed value or the full market value?

We have used full value for the calculations. This was the best way as the five towns that have housing in our school district have various equalization ratios ranging from 62%-100%.  All of the newsletters do capture this as full value. 

Why does Victor's Capital Project have a 16 cent per thousand true tax rate increase over 15 years while some neighboring projects do not have any tax impact on Capital Projects? 

Because Victor had a significant increase in student enrollment over the past 15 years which has since stabilized, but still resulted in significant space issues that we currently are dealing with at the VIS, VJH, and VSH. This is not the case for most districts in our area. Hence, 45 million of the 99 million dollar project is going to build 22 classrooms across three buildings as well as enlarging two cafeterias. Despite the project being 99 million dollars, we are using over 28 million dollars from our Capital Reserve and receiving over 60 million dollars from the state to mitigate the tax impact. 

Why is this project so large compared to previous capital projects?

The average cost of the last five Capital Projects at VCS was approximately 22 million dollars. These projects were meant to try to keep up with the significant enrollment growth at the time, but still left issues with space needs, safety and security, and programming needs. The total cost of the 2024 Capital Project is larger, but addresses the long term challenges such as space needs, safety and security, and the need for increased programming on campus. 93 million dollars, or 94% of the total cost of the project is covered either by the district or by the state. This leaves less 5.7 million dollars left for the local share, which we anticipate will be smaller once the project is completed. The cost to the taxpayer for this project is less than the 2019 Capital Project, which had a total cost of 29.3 million dollars but a slightly higher tax impact.

If you are utilizing all of your Capital Project Reserve money (28.4 million) to help fund this project, how will the District afford future projects

VCS has a financial strategy of attempting to budget between 3% and 5% of the total budget for contingencies. Similar to a homeowner's budget, VCS tries not to budget for 100% of expenses, since this would leave no money left for emergencies or to put into savings. Any money that is left over and not used for emergencies will be put into our Capital Reserve fund to help pay for future projects.