Gilbert Public Schools has a deferred maintenance backlog on its facilities of $198 million, according to a new study.
“That may look like an alarming number,” Tim Detlaff, senior vice president of asset management for Ameresco, an engineering services company, told the GPS governing board on May 2. “It is a big number, there's no question. But I'm going to tell you it's not a 'sky-is-falling' number.”
The district will be addressing about $20 million of that backlog with its capital projects scheduled for this summer, Associate Superintendent Bonnie Betz said.
The district has been spending an average $20 million a year for capital renewal on facilities, but even at that rate, the unfunded liability for the district would grow to $1.07 billion by 2052 without additional investment to renew, repair and replace district buildings, Detlaff said.
The district’s “Facility Condition Index” — an industry standard that judges the condition of buildings by calculating their renewal costs against their current replacement costs — stands at 8.7%. That is considered “fair” by industry standards, though a “good” score of 5% or less is achieved generally only when buildings are new or close to new.
Detlaff said that score means GPS has done a good job prioritizing where it uses its capital renewal money and that many districts are in worse shape.
However, to keep the index to 10% — which is the line between “fair” and “poor” by industry standards — would require an average investment of $48 million a year between now and 2052.
However, without additional funding, the index would grow to “critical” — a score of more than 30% — by 2033.
Board Member Chad Thompson asked what the feasibility is for the district to jump from $20 million in spending to $48 million.
Betz said it would be difficult to spend $48 million with students attending classes. However, she said she was appreciative that the new study gave the district a tool by which to prioritize whatever money it would have to spend on capital renewal.
The $20 million average comes mostly from the district’s capital bond money but about $2 million-$2.5 million a year comes from the money the state gives the district for capital projects.
Thompson said it sounds like the district would be about $18 million a year short of being able to maintain its facilities without bond money.
“How are we, as a district the size we are, without an ability to keep things up to date without asking taxpayers for more money?” Thompson asked.
Betz responded that it was about prioritizing the money the district does get.
“If we did not prioritize increases in salaries, if we did not prioritize class sizes, then we could re-utilize those monies going to those needs and move it over into unrestricted capital to meet these regular ongoing facility reinvestment costs,” she said. “So it's all about how we would prioritize as a school system.”
Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on Twitter. We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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