On June 11, Auburn voters will be asked to approve building a new Edward Little High School on the current site. Of the projected $122 million cost, $105.9 would be paid by the state. Local taxpayers would be asked to spend up to $15.5 million in two ballot questions.
Question 1 will include the $105.9 million in state money, plus $5.5 million in local spending. It would include the basic high school project paid for by the state, which includes grass athletic fields, a sizable regional and technical center wing that will be a satellite of the Lewiston Regional Technical Center, and a 367-seat performing arts center. The $5.5 million local spending would pay for increased gymnasium space, interior features such as geothermal heating and cooling.
Question 2 will ask voters to approve another $10.5 million in local costs, including $8.9 million in bonding, $1.5 million from Capital Improvement Project funding and money raised from fundraising. That $10.5 million would pay for expanding the 367-seat performing arts center to 1,200 seats, a larger stage, improved lighting, a tech shop and dressing rooms; and an athletic stadium with artificial turf, lighting, grandstands, a press box and a 6- to 8-lane track field, a second turf field, landscaping and additional parking and building space.
Property tax costs for the separate questions for a home valued at $150,000 were not available Wednesday night. But the Auburn School Department has said that the total local costs for both questions, or $15.5 million, would be $94 in 2023 for that $150,000 valued property. After 2023, the annual costs for the 20-year loan would come down about $2 a year for that property.
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