FAIRFIELD – As the $20 million bond, approved by the Fairfield County School Board last month to finance a new career center, continues to stir up questions in the community, one Fairfield County resident made some of his concerns known at Tuesday night’s Board meeting.
Speaking before the Board in the library of the McCrorey-Liston School of Technology, Charles Stogner said he was disappointed that the District had not explored options of sharing facilities and classes with the Midlands Tech QuickJobs campus on Highway 21, directly across from the current Fairfield Career and Technology Center. That campus, he said, already offers numerous classes that are key to employment at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville.
“Why couldn’t some of the Midlands Tech classes be used in conjunction with the existing Career Center to avoid spending $15.6 million?” Stogner asked. “Was there any consideration given to dialogue between Midlands Tech and the School Board on how we could coordinate benefits.”
Stogner said that, based on conversations he’s had with Midlands Tech, no such dialogue appears to have taken place.
Before his time expired, Stogner said he would like to know how many students are currently utilizing the existing Career and Technology Center.
Later, Stogner told The Voice that he was also concerned over recently published comments attributed to David Ferguson, Chairman of the Fairfield County Council, at Council’s March 11 meeting when Ferguson openly questioned the School District’s fiscal ability to carry a $20 million bond.
Kevin Robinson, Director of Finance for the District, addressed Ferguson’s comments after the meeting Tuesday.
“I would like to see the research that was done in order for him to reach that conclusion,” Robinson said. “It could be that they don’t know, or they don’t fully understand, what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.”
Robinson said the District had hired very competent bond attorneys to thoroughly vet the matter before bringing it to a vote.
Robinson also made one very significant clarification on the millage rate. The District’s current rate stands at 9.9 mils, he said. With the bond, that rate will go up to 34 mils for two years, after which it will drop to 24 mils for approximately 10 years. Robinson also said those numbers were not written in stone and could fluctuate by a few tenths of a percent in either direction once the deal is done.
Our county officials are always talking about wanting to attract businesses and people to our county. Why would anyone want to relocate to UN-Fairfield County when they see how decisions are made WITHOUT consulting or considering the people that already live here. According to Census information; population in our county has declined 2.5%. Less taxes and a welcoming attitude might reverse that trend. But instead, we want to bleed every source of revenue dry. Also, according to the census bureau information; UN-Fairfield County has a population of 23,363 of which 22% are age 18 or under. The math gives us 5,140 people age 18 or younger. IF EVERY SINGLE ONE of them attended the proposed new career center the cost would be be over $3,000 per child just to build the place! I don’t know what percentage of our children will utilize a career center but I imagine it is a comparatively small percentage. Do your own math. What is the cost per child if only 10% of those children ever use the career center….5%…2%?
When County council tried to raise our taxes by more than 15 mills at one time, they found it was not legal. Something is way wrong here!