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FAIRMONT - Homeowners are often faced with problems that require attention - a leaking faucet, a cracked sidewalk, or a failing water heater. These are aggravating, but most homeowners take care of them rather quickly and with money budgeted for that purpose. Over time, major items, like the roof or furnace, need repair and a homeowner's loan is not an uncommon solution.

Butch Hanson, superintendent of Fairmont Public Schools, said this is just what happened at the school district buildings, and the "homeowner's loan" they need is up for a public vote one month from today.

The Fairmont School District is asking voters for approval to sell about $8.8 million in general obligation school building bonds to cover deferred maintenance items ranging from roof repairs and boiler replacements to track resurfacing and technology upgrades.

The district has been defeated in two previous votes, one in November for $29 million and another in May for $9.8 million.

Minnesota statutes require districts resubmitting a question to the public within 180 days of a previous election to change the amount by 10 percent.

Due to laws dictating when school districts can present a question for public vote, Sept. 9 was chosen for voting day.

According to Hanson, the amount was reduced by 10 percent from May's referendum to expedite the required review and comment process the district must endure before a referendum.

"We had to go through the Department of Education review and comment process," he said. "The board had to decide if they were going to change (the amount of the referendum), and they had to decide, are they going to up 10 percent or down 10 percent. We certainly had more projects. One of the key factors was the time limitation we were working with. In order for us to get that review and comment done successfully and within the time frame we had to work with, we felt we had to stay within a subset of projects that have been through the review and comment process once."

The cost difference between next month's referendum and May's amount was met by excluding certain items in the athletic department.

Hanson says the items removed still need to be addressed, but in order to have projects started next summer, the referendum must be presented now.

The tax impact projected for the project is $4.67 per month on a $100,000 home.

"To delay the process will cost more," he said. "These problems are not going away for us, and our ability to find other revenues to do the work, because of the size of these projects, are beyond our reach. The reason we are out in September - if it is approved we can still get the majority of the work done next summer."

The district will conduct a public meeting to discuss the referendum and address any questions from the public at 9 a.m. Sept. 6 in the Five Lakes Elementary cafeteria.

http://www.fairmontsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/501323.html