New Albany-Plain schools say residents might save money in $135M bond request

NEW ALBANY, Ohio ( WCMH ) – Residents of the New Albany school district will see a $135 million bond issue on the ballot Nov. 5, but officials say the timing may offer a relief for some taxpayers.

The New Albany-Plain Local School District is seeking the 4.46 mills bond issue to help fund its campus master plan. Communications representative Patrick Gallaway said Issue 40 will address the anticipated 1,000-student increase for the district in the next 10 years.

A consulting firm examined housing within the district, average enrollment and projected growth to forecast the stark increase. Currently, the district has around 5,130 students.

To accommodate, New Albany schools has proposed building an elementary school, set to open in the 2027-28 school year. With the addition, grades will be restructured into six buildings:

According to the district, the master plan came after two years of research and will be implemented in two phases. Alongside the new elementary school, phase one will renovate an existing high school building and middle school stadium, and build a larger transportation facility. The current transportation facility is now too small to accommodate the district’s needs, it said, and the new one will be built on donated land.

The second phase, which will begin when the first ends in 2028, will build new science labs, a fine arts hub and expand common areas.

“Ideally this was the time to place it on the ballot due to the Community Authority rolling off at the end of the year,” Gallaway said. “Most taxpayers will see little-to-no increase in their taxes with Issue 40. In fact, some residents are seeing a decrease.”

The Community Authority was a $38.1 million community development charge for all properties owned by the New Albany Company. It was enacted in 1996 and has funded projects for the school and Plain Township Fire Station, which also has a levy on the ballot .

With the collection expiring Dec. 31, the school district said it is asking most taxpayers to keep paying 1.45 mills of the expiring 1.95 mills, a possible tax decrease. It said anyone who has not been paying into the Community Authority will see an increase of $50.75 per $100,000 of their home value.

Taxpayers wondering what Issue 40 might cost them can use the “ know your cost ” calculator. Although residents will see different outcomes, all taxpayers are taxed at the same rate under the proposed bond issue.

The district said this is the first bond or operating levy since 2012. It did pass a permanent improvement levy in 2022, but Gallaway clarified that was a different type of funding used for building repairs and improvements.

Gallaway said if the bond issue does not pass, the board will have to propose another in the coming years. Residents with questions are invited to attend explanatory town hall meetings, held every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the intermediate school community room.

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