OXFORD – SAD 17 has the property set for the new Paris Elementary School.

It has the purchase and sales agreement set and most of the $10 million to $12 million it is going to take to build the school.

About 99 percent of it.

The missing 1 percent could mean up to $120,000 has to be raised locally.

The first part of that money, $80,000, was realized when the district agreed to purchase 16.2 acres of land on the corner of High Street and Hathaway Road.

Other costs depend on the district’s deviance from state-approved costs.

Superintendent Mark Eastman said the land was purchased for $210,000, which he said was $90,000 under the asking price.

However, the district incurred a bill of $80,000 because the commercially zoned land was assessed at $130,000.

He said the state gets two assessments and then pays no more than the average of the assessments.

The extra cost to the district is common and of that extra cost, the town that is the site of the school absorbs some of the cost.

“In most of school projects there is a local piece,” Eastman said. “Each town has contributed to building of elementary school in their area, especially if a district wants something the state is not willing to provide.”

He noted that “extras” in the other elementary schools included: Hebron contributed $20,000 to expand the library; Otisfield purchased land for $45,000 and donated it to the district; and Waterford donated a larger gymnasium, costing about $45,000.

Eastman said the state looks favorably at a local district paying part of land costs; that shows commitment to the project.

Paris Town Manager Stephen McAllister said the town has already provided support to the project in terms of in-kind labor.

He said the town provided a man and backhoe to dig test holes on the site.

“If it gets to a point where there is a request from the district for more involvement, the selectmen would have to discuss it and then take it to the voters,” McAllister said.

Eastman said other districts had to ante up more money than their land was assessed.

“I talked to the state director of construction,” Eastman said. “He said there’s a very consistent pattern across the state of Maine where appraisals come in lower than purchase price. He gave me five examples in Maine.”

The $80,000 could be the only cost the new school incurs, because the district has reached what Business Manager Cathy Fanjoy called the circuit breaker.

“The district can only be responsible for contributing so much in local funds for construction,” Fanjoy said. “No school district pays more than 4.8 mills for debt service, so our maximum amount for state-approved projects is about one-half million dollars per year.”

“Once you’re at the circuit breaker you don’t pay any more for items that are 100 percent state approved,” she said.

The only extra costs would come from the district’s deviation from state-approved plans.

The state Board of Education has already approved the district for the bonding process.

But the exact cost will know be not for nearly a year.

“We’ll know sometime in 2004 when the bids come in,” Eastman said. “It’s hard to crystal ball that amount at this moment.”

jsmedley@sunjournal.com

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