Northampton School renovation price jumps again

The price tag for a full renovation for Northampton’s Middle and High School in Eastville has jumped once again, this time to $61,469,507.

The Northampton Board of Supervisors heard a lengthy update on the project at Tuesday night’s work session in Eastville from school representatives and Skanska, the construction management firm.

The increased prices can be blamed on increase in costs from inflation and supply shortages, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been further exacerbated by recent geo-political events in Ukraine.

Dane Seagle with Skanska pointed out sanctions on Russia will likely have a further negative effect on the cost of the building.

“Cutting off Russian metals and mining will probably lead to HVAC and other modern amenities becoming more expensive and more difficult to get,” he said.

The latest price tag comes at the 95% project budget estimate and the cost could very well increase again as the full scope of the project comes into view.

Several Supervisors expressed frustration over the new price tag.

“Are we putting all our eggs into one basket?” asked Chairwoman Betsy Mapp. “We have other projects. This is an important project, but it’s not the only one.”

Northampton approved a bond sale of $42 million in September of 2021 for the renovation of the high school, as well as a separate sale of $25 million in bonds to renovate the two elementary schools. A referendum allowing a special 1 cent sales tax on certain items was approved by Northampton’s voters in November, and County Administrator Charlie Kolakowski said that tax is exceeding expectations in revenue.

However, the County is still short by approximately $11 million for revenue to complete the project at the current projections.

County Finance Director John Chandler laid out several scenarios for bridging the financial gap, which ranged from outright debt to project savings, using the County’s undesignated fund balance and financing the rest. The County currently has $14 million in the UDB, and Kolakowski felt the County should maintain $6 million.

The other complicating factor is the interest rate environment. With an increasing interest rate environment, every .5% increase to rates will add approximately $700,000 to the overall price tag.

“The question is ‘what can we afford?'” said Supervisor John Coker. “I think we can do $61 – $62 million, but $65 – $70, that’s just too high.”

During the discussion, several supervisors floated the idea of a real estate tax increase, as much as 5 cents, to help cover the shortfall.

“We need to get this project going,” said Oliver Bennet. “But we are going to have some folks in some trouble when the new tax assessments come out.”

The Board of Supervisors voted to send the project to bid on a 4-1 vote, with Chairwoman Betsy Mapp voting no.

Finalization of the construction plan is anticipated in April, bids are expected in May and construction is hoped to start in July.

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