schools return project $11.5 million surplus to county _ loudountimes

7/31/2019 Schools Return Project $11.5 Million Surplus to County _ LoudounTimes

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18/12 Schools return project $11.5 million surplus to county | LoudounTimes.com

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Friday, Mar. 30, 2012 by Laura Peters | 16 comments | Email this story

The Loudoun County School Board must return unspent capital project funds in the sum ofmore than $11.5 million back to the county.

The possibility of using those funds for other projects is not possible. That is due to the factthat the restrictive language used in the bond referendum restricts its use, Jeff Morse(Dulles) said.

According to Superintendent Dr. Edgar Hatrick, there is normally a two year gap before theschools can declare a surplus on a project. This year, J. Michael Lunsford Middle Schoolsgym project was the majority of the return a project less than two years old.

This is a n exception to the rule Jeff Platenberg, assis tant superintendent for theDepartment of Support Services said. J. Michael Lunsford Middle School (MS-5) wasappropriated in the FY-06 CIP in the amount of $39,675,000 and was allocated to theschools in October 2005. The timeline established for the project anticipated an opening inthe fall of 2008. Site availability caused the project to be delayed and during this period, LCPSdecided to alter the middle school prototype from a one- story design to that of a two-story.

Another school, Liberty Elementary, was constructed on a proffered site, Pla tenberg said. Thesite had minimal site development costs and no regional road improvements that LCPS wasresponsible for, so the bids were below what staff expected, he added.

These are surplus CIP dollars and we do have to give back to the county if we dont use it forthe CIP projects, Kevin Kuesters (Broad Run) said. All these CIP projects, with theexception of one thats on the list, have been completed.

In 2008, LCPS requested $12.2 million in supplemental funding for a two-story concept anddesign, according to Platenberg. The request also factored in construction funding andinflation that ca me out to a total funding for Lunsford of $51.9 million.

Since Lunsford was delayed for three years, construction was less due to the economicdownturn, Platenberg said.

Ten million dollars of the surplus funding proposed for return is ahead of the scheduledcompletion period and represents the reduced construction costs in what continues to be a

volatile school cons truction market, Platenberg explained.

The board passed the return unanimously.

Whats being returned:

J. Michael Lunsford Middle School - $10,000,000Kenneth W. Culbert Elementary School - $28,086Lucketts Elementary Marquee Sign - $1,764Liberty Elementary School - $945,273Sugarland Elementary School Renovation - $2,892FY07 Middle School Renovations - $1 21,646Sycolin Creek Elementary School - $56,282Stone Hill Middle School - $14,079Rolling Ridge Elementary School Renovation - $90,805Middle School Renovations - $2,129Briar Woods High School - $302,438

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Schools return project $11.5 million surplus to county


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Comments

Sat, Apr 07 at 07:19 PM by cat | Report this comment

Was the money last year from a different fund or are we going to end up withmore whiteboards or China trips?

Thu, Apr 05 at 09:30 AM by Broncobilly | Report this comment

No lets not transfer or give raises just because other counties overpay theirteachers is no reason to keep throwing money at a dead horse.

Thu, Apr 05 at 07:51 AM by Employee | Report this comment

Use the money to give the employees one of their STEP RAISES .. that theyhavent seen in FOUR YEARS! Oh thats right, they just got a whopping 50cent raise. Think Ill go buy a 1/2 tank of gas with that. Not.

Tue, Apr 03 at 06:39 PM by uh oh | Report this comment

Pay down the debt or use it for drug enforcement-they apparently need it atCounty where there was a drug bust last week (prinicpal lied on his phone callto parents to try to explain why there were drug sniffing dogs all over theschoolins ide and out).

Tue, Apr 03 at 05:55 AM by Wondering | Report this comment

How much interest have these 11.5 million in bonds cost us so far?

Sat, Mar 31 at 01:43 PM by Whiteboard Salesman | Report this comment

How can I get my grubby hands on some of this money?

Sat, Mar 31 at 12:15 PM by Can't Have it Both Ways | Report this comment

You people are hilarious. The s chool system is damned if they DO spendmoney, and damned if they DONT spend money. Read the article please. Thesavings were due mostly to the bids being lower than expected because of thedownturn in the construction market. Your beloved free market worked.

Sat, Mar 31 at 10:59 AM by Passing through | Report this comment

Perfect examples of how the schools over pad their budget. Their constantoverspending on unnecessary crap is a perfect example of their excessive

waste. The time to rein them in is long over due.their millions in waste canbe spent in other area that would benefit the entire county and not just thosewith kids in the public schools system.

I alwa ys found it funny that even after spending the millions and millions theschools are still not recognized as being one of the top school systems in ourregion.

Sat, Mar 31 at 09:10 AM by Jeanne | Report this comment

Since the money came from taxpayers why is it not being returned to them?

Sat, Mar 31 at 07:02 AM by echyone | Report this comment

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It seems l ike every year the sch ool system has millions of dollars of unspentbudget. They are obviously padding the budget. I think an audit should beconducted.

Fri, Mar 30 at 03:56 PM by oversite | Report this comment

Quit spending just because you got it.

Fri, Mar 30 at 03:56 PM by Jeffrey Lacker | Report this comment

Any unused Bond money should be used to call in $11.5/million in bondsissued.

Fri, Mar 30 at 03:11 PM by The Right Reverend Chef Boyardee | Report this comment

I love this! This is exactly what should happen to the appropriated budget.

Fri, Mar 30 at 02:58 PM by Loudoun County | Report this comment

This money cant be used for anything other than building the school that wason the referendum. It cant be used for anything elsewhich is why it wasreturned without debate.

Fri, Mar 30 at 02:24 PM by ALeesburgResident | Report this comment

this is bond money. It should be used to pay down DEBT!!!!

Fri, Mar 30 at 02:15 PM by Transfer Funds? | Report this comment

So, can the county transfer these funds to the requested schools operatingbudget? If these funds are combined with the 8-10 million expected from thestate, the school board will have to cut quite a bit less than 22 million and theteachers and classified staff can get their small raises.

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schools return project $11.5 million surplus to county _ loudountimes

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