Taxpayers prepare to vote on $14 mil schools bond

Taxpayers in the Malverne Union Free School district will head out to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 16, to determine the fate of a $14.1 million bond proposed by the Board of Education to upgrade two elementary schools and district atheletic facilities.

If passed, Proposition 1 will bring upgrades, expansions and renovations to the Maurice W. Downing Primary School and Davison Avenue Intermediary School — which is expected to begin housing fifth graders next fall — at a cost of $9.9 million.

Proposition 2, if approved, will improve athletic facilities used by the district and community residents and organizations that are currently in disrepair. This proposition will cost $4.2 million.

While Proposition 2 can be approved separately from Proposition 1, it cannot be implemented if Proposition 1 does not pass.

If the propositions pass, Malverne taxpayers will pay about $8.5 million in borrowing costs throughout the length of the bond — which would likely be 15 years — and the remaining $5.6 million (39.7 percent) would come from the state in the form of infrastructure aid.

The costs would be absorbed into the district’s annual budget as part of the yearly budget increase — taxpayers will not see a separate or additional tax bill. The debt service portion of the bond issue will be about 2 percent of the entire budget.

Related story:

Malverne school board to ask for $14.1 mil