What's on the ballot in your town? Explaining bond issue, impact on taxes, and what they buy
There's more than one election coming up on Tuesday.
Voters in nine Rhode Island communities — Barrington, Bristol, Cumberland, East Greenwich, Lincoln, Middletown, North Kingstown, North Smithfield, and Warren — are also being asked to authorize a combined $1.1 billion in future spending.
Most of those towns are proposing to build new state-of-the-art schools or overhaul existing educational facilities, and hoping to seize the fleeting opportunity to get a large chunk of their costs reimbursed by the Rhode Island Department of Education.
There are also proposals to construct new public safety facilities, or, in the case of North Kingstown, a recreation center that could house nine indoor pickleball courts.
The potential price tag for taxpayers varies widely from town to town: A Barrington resident whose home is valued at $500,000 would see their annual tax bill go up by $960, while the equivalent property in Bristol would only be subject to a $240 tax increase, according to calculators available on those towns' websites.
In Rhode Island, bond questions tend to pass by wide margins. Still, campaign finance records show that BuildRI, which represents a long list of trade unions, has spent close to $77,000 on mailers, ads and outreach efforts urging voters to support the construction bonds.
North Kingstown Firefighters Association Local 1651 reported spending $14,201 on the campaign for a new public safety complex, while Friends of the North Kingstown Recreation Center spent $3,343 on their own advocacy efforts.
Central Falls residents will also vote on several changes to the city charter on Tuesday.
Here's a town-by-town overview of what's on the ballot:
Barrington bond question
What's on the ballot: Borrowing $250 million in bonds for the "construction, improvement, renovation, alteration, furnishing and equipping" of local public schools.
Where the money would go: While the ballot question doesn't get into specifics, the Barrington School Committee recently voted to move forward with a plan that would involve renovating the high school and going from four elementary schools to three.
Sowams, Nayatt, and Primrose Hill Schools would be renovated, while Hampden Meadows School would close.
Counterintuitively, the goal is to make room for more students. The town's school building committee says that enrollment is expected to increase by 8.5% over the next decade, and Barrington's elementary schools are already approaching overcapacity and using modular units as a temporary solution to house students.
Instead of building a new elementary school, which would be more expensive, the plan is to construct new additions at the three existing schools.
The elementary schools also need security upgrades "like entrance vestibules and improved intercom systems," according to the committee. And all school buildings — aside from the new middle school that was just built a few years ago — need "updated and improved fire safety systems."
Barrington High School is also in need of renovations, according to officials. At an October community meeting, Superintendent Michael Messore said that the building's roof leaks and its HVAC systems routinely fail.
How much taxes would increase: According to the online calculator on the building committee's website, a resident whose home is assessed at $680,000 — the median sales price in Barrington — would see their annual tax bill go up by $1,306.
Bristol and Warren bond question
What's on the ballot: Borrowing $200 million in bonds that would be used for "the acquisition, construction, improvement, renovation, furnishing and equipping of a new high school, athletic facility, and school facilities" for the Bristol Warren Regional School District.
Where the money would go: The district intends to tear down and rebuild Mt. Hope High School, and also add new sports fields and facilities.
District officials told the Bristol Phoenix that, among other issues, the current high school is prone to flooding and plagued with a leaky roof. Plumbing problems have resulted in "strong raw sewage smells" and forced classes to be relocated.
Because Mt. Hope was built on top of a creek in the 1960s, the district is currently paying over $100,000 a year for flood insurance. Engineers say that the new building will be constructed on a different portion of the site, outside the flood hazard area. (Some community members have suggested that it should be built somewhere else entirely, but that idea hasn't gained traction.)
The vast majority of the school bond money would go toward the new high school, but roughly $34 million is reserved for roof repairs, security upgrades, new HVAC systems, and other maintenance at Kickemuit Middle School and three elementary schools — Hugh Cole, Colt Andrews, and Rockwell.
The district eventually plans to close an additional school, Guiteras Elementary, which is also located in a flood plain.
How much taxes would increase: Bristol residents would see a $240 increase in the annual tax bill for a home valued at $500,000, the median sales price for a single-family house. In Warren, a property valued at the median sales price of $409,950 would see a $340 annual tax increase, according to the calculator available on the school district's website.
Central Falls ballot questions
What's on the ballot: Question 1 would update the city charter to explicitly outlaw discrimination, remove gendered language, outline "principles and regulations related to nondiscrimination and equity," and "emphasize the values of inclusivity and equity."
Question 2 would amend the charter to give preference to Central Falls residents, Veterans of Foreign Wars members, and multilingual applicants in police and fire hiring decisions. It would also reduce the minimum age for firefighters from 21 to 18.
Question 3 would repeal outdated city laws that do not conform with state election laws.
Cumberland bond question
What's on the ballot: Borrowing $52 million to replace B.F. Norton Elementary School, and make updates to "other related school facilities."
Where the money would go: Cumberland is seeking to demolish B.F. Norton and build a new, modern-looking elementary school in its place.
Officials originally planned to spend $8 million on renovating the existing building. However, at a February school committee meeting, superintendent Phil Thornton and architect Luis Torrado of Torrado Architects presented a case for starting from scratch.
Torrado said that he'd discovered that the sidewalk leading to the school's main entrance was too steep to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that reconfiguring the building to put the entrance in the front would have been a "compromise."
Previous updates to the school had already required "a number of compromises," he said. Meanwhile, since district-wide enrollment is expected to increase in coming years, a brand new B.F. Norton would allow the town to accommodate more students.
At a May town council meeting, Thornton suggested that a brand new building could also encourage more families to choose B.F. Norton over the nearby Blackstone Valley Prep charter school, according to the Valley Breeze.
Approximately $42 million of the $52 million bond issue would be used for B.F. Norton, Thornton said in an email on Tuesday. The other $10 million would go toward improvements at other schools. (The B.F. Norton project is expected to cost $50 million in total, but $8 million is still left from the previous school bond.)
How much taxes would increase: The tax increase for a $440,000 home would translate to $132, Mayor Jeff Mutter wrote in an email. However, he said, Cumberland has existing debt coming off the books, which will lessen the impact of the new bond. When that's factored in, the impact is reduced to about a $ 79 increase for a $440,000 home.
East Greenwich bond question
What's on the ballot: Borrowing $150 million for school construction projects, including "a new build replacement for the Frenchtown Elementary School, additions and renovations or a new build replacement for the Hanaford Elementary School, renovations and improvements to the Meadowbrook Elementary School, and additions andrenovations to the East Greenwich High School."
Where the money would go: When the East Greenwich Town Council agreed to send the bond question to voters, they deliberately opted to leave some of the language open-ended, the East Greenwich News previously reported.
For instance, it's possible that Hanaford could be torn down and replaced with a brand new school, or that the existing building could be expanded and renovated at a lower cost.
Overall, school district officials say that the town has "outgrown" its existing elementary schools, and that all four are at an average of 125% capacity. Three of the schools are currently using mobile classrooms to house some students.
The master plan approved by the town's school committee and school building committee this spring would involve closing Eldredge Elementary School, which was built in 1927. The other elementary schools, which were built in the 1950s and 1960s, would be reconfigured: Frenchtown and Hanaford would be used for first through fifth grades, and Meadowbrook would house pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.
The plan also involves spending $20 million on upgrades to the high school, an amount that some residents have argued is too low.
How much taxes would increase: "There is no clear answer to this question due to the many variables, including project and debt management decisions that will be made up until the point of debt issuance in the next few years," town manager Andrew Nota wrote in an email.
The town's projections show that a home valued at $500,000 today would see a tax increase $264 in fiscal year 2025, and an increase of $737 in fiscal year 2027. However, Nota said, East Greenwich is presenting a worst case scenario and wants to avoid "painting a more rosy and unrealistic picture." The actual impact will likely be less, he said.
Lincoln bond questions
What's on the ballot: Question 1 asks voters to approve borrowing $25 million "for the construction, renovation, rehabilitation, repair, improvements, furnishing and equipping of and/or additions to Lincoln elementary schools."
Question 2 asks them to approve borrowing another $14 million "to finance the development and construction of a new town-wide centralized rescue station."
Where the money would go: According to informational materials available on the school district's website, the school bond would be used to upgrade all four elementary schools with "new gymnasiums, new STEM classrooms and reimagined school cafeterias."
Those four schools had over $20 million dollars in building deficiencies at the time of a 2017 assessment, according to a presentation posted on the site. They also have about a third of the gym and cafeteria space that would be required today under RIDE regulations.
Separately, the town is seeking to combine its two existing EMS rescue stations in Albion and Lonsdale and replace them with one centralized station.
Town administrator Phil Gould told the Valley Breeze that the current rescue stations are "outdated and incredibly expensive to maintain," and that the new station's central location next to Town Hall would lead to faster response times.
If the bond is approved, Lincoln would be able to use $1.5 million in grant funding to build a new learning center attached to the rescue center, Gould said. That space could be used for fire, police and EMS trainings as well as driver's education classes, first aid trainings, and other events that are open to the broader community.
How much taxes would increase: Town administrator Phi Gould said in an email that that the town's goal is to avoid any tax increase from the two bonds.
"This is because bond proposals of $25 million for the elementary schools and $14 million for the Centralized Rescue Station are coming at a time where we will be retiring debt on a previous middle school bond, and we intend to take advantage of temporary state incentives," he wrote. "This will result in the same debt service payment amounts that we are currently making, but just for these new projects."
Middletown bond question
What's on the ballot: Borrowing $190 million for the construction of a new middle school and high school, and renovations to other school facilities.
Where the money would go: According to information posted on the town's website, Middletown schools are currently plagued with aging infrastructure that, in some cases, is so dated that contractors that can't even find replacement parts.
If the bond is approved, $170 million would go towards replacing Gaudet Middle School and Middletown High School. The two schools would be combined into one building where they would have separate wings and entrances, but share gym and auditorium space.
The remaining $20 million from the bond would be used for reconfiguring and updating the district's elementary schools.
Under the current plan, a reworked Forest Avenue School would serve students from pre-kindergarten to first grade. Middletown High School's existing building would be converted into a "learning center" for grades 2 to 5, and also used as administrative office space.
The plan also calls for transforming Aquidneck Elementary School into a community center, which would be paid for with grant funding.
How much taxes would increase: A detailed fiscal analysis available on the town's website indicates that the tax bill for a home valued at $650,000 would go up by about $709 in fiscal years 2025 and 2026, and over $1,000 after that. Homeowners who are not full-time residents would see a slightly larger increase.
North Kingstown bond questions
What's on the ballot: Question 1 asks voters to approve borrowing a combined $222.4 million. About $167.5 million would be reserved for "school purposes," including a new middle school. The other $55 million would go toward a new public safety complex.
Question 2 proposes borrowing an additional $25 million for an "indoor recreation center/emergency shelter."
Where the money would go: School officials hope to replace Wickford Middle School and Davisville Middle School with a new "state of the art" building that would house all students in grades 6-8.
Information available on the school district's website states that the existing buildings "are not supportive of our 21st century mission and vision for students," are not energy efficient or up to today's security standards, and are reaching the end of their useful life.
The new middle school would have a center courtyard for outdoor learning space, a robotics lab, and space to expand music and theater programming, among other things.
The so-called "megabond" would also allow North Kingstown to construct a new 52,000 square foot public safety complex that would house the fire and police departments.
The current complex "no longer provides the space and systems necessary to run a modern public safety agency," according to a website sponsored by the firefighters' union.
Among its problems: The building was "not constructed to support the size and weight of modern fire apparatus," and the lack of office space has forced the fire department to set up a desk inside a jail cell.
Separately, Question 2 would provide funding for an indoor recreation center that could be used for youth sports, adult exercise classes, and community events.
The facility could potentially have a walking track, batting cages, and nine separate pickleball courts, according to the town's website. It would also double as an emergency center.
How much taxes would increase: In an email, Town Manager Ralph Mollis said that it was impossible "to accurately project the actual tax increase impact of the bonds," since that would depend on numerous factors such as the structure of the bonds and interest rates at the time of financing.
The gross cost of all three projects would translate to an $811 increase in annual taxes for a home assessed at $450,000, Mollis said. However, he said, that figure is "very misleading" because it doesn't reflect the fact that the town will also be retiring "significant debt" over the next few years.
North Smithfield bond question
What's on the ballot: Borrowing $18 million "for the development and construction of a new policestation or the renovation, improvement, alteration and repair of an existing building to be usedas a police station."
Where the money would go: At a public information meeting in October, representatives from Tecton Architects said that the current plan involves building a new 13,600-square foot building to replace the police department's current headquarters, which has numerous "deficiencies" and is suffering from deferred maintenance.
Among the problems: The prisoner processing areas are not up to date with today's safety standards. Photos that the North Smithfield Police Department posted to Facebook also show apparent water damage, peeling paint, and buckling ceiling tiles throughout the station.
The North Smithfield Town Council has yet to approve the design for the new station, and the wording of the bond question still leaves open the possibility that the existing facility could be renovated rather than rebuilt.
However, according to the Valley Breeze, the town's Municipal Buildings Review Task Force has indicated that renovating the building would cost $17.5 million — almost as much as building a new station.
How much taxes would increase: Paul Vadenais, the chair of the Municipal Building Review Task Force, said in an email that taxes a home valued at $450,000 would go up by $305 per year if the town opts for level debt service.
However, the town's financial advisor, PFM Financial Advisors LLC, has recommended modified debt service in which taxes would go up $82.05 in year one, $80.25 in year two and approximately $202 going forward, he said.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI election: Bond questions on the ballot for cities and towns explained
