The votes are in. The ballots have been counted, recounted, and it looks like Fayetteville will not be building a new high school in the immediate future.
The proposed 4.9-mill property tax increase to fund construction of a brand new Fayetteville High School was voted down by more than 2000 votes, with over 10,000 people turning out to vote during the early voting period and the special election on Tuesday.
The final (unverified) count was 5,954 AGAINST and 4,085 FOR the millage.
UPDATE: The verified count was considerably different, but with the same outcome. The new numbers are 6,382 AGAINST and 3,672 FOR.
Ozarks Unbound has more.
Make sure to check out Christopher Spencer’s coverage of last night’s election results at Ozarks Unbound. Chris has a story, photos and an interview with Superintendent Vicki Thomas.
Get back to the drawing board, sell to UofA and do this the right way….we want to grow, this was just a bad idea…….come on you libs love change…..Fay HS needs to change….
This is just another case of sentimentality outstripping logic.
I did vote for this, but how can the Fayetteville school board expect the voters to approve a $100 million bond issue when they turned down $50 million from the U of A?
This was more about location than whats “best for Fayetteville students” anyway.
It is kind of absurd to see a $115 million price tag on this school when Har Ber was built for 1/3 of that and is a palace.
The people who have the most time on their hands to protest any and all change are running this city into the ground.
The offer from the University was rejected because it was about 14% lower than the lower of two appraisals done on the FHS property. Another offer, more tentative but with better potential came up, and the school district showed fiduciary responsibility by waiting to see how that offer would pan out. The University rescinded their offer.
It would have been foolish all around for the school district to accept the University’s offer, as it was too low and predicated on the questionable (as questionable as raising property taxes, I’d say) tactic of raising student fees to pay for it even though other funding was available. As I recall, even at full price, the sale of the property would have been very near a wash as far as its effect on the final cost of a new school in another location.
Hopefully now they will come back with a more acceptable solution to this issue. I care about our future, but this was hardly a vote for our future vs. a vote for running our school into the ground. There are more and much better options out there that they will explore in more depth now. That’s a good thing for everyone!
Wow, the Flyer poll was right on target. We must be a good representative sample.
The UA student fees have already been raised for the purpose of buying FHS. Instead, they will be applied to renovation and modernization of existing buildings. Maybe FHS should think along those lines.
More cooperative programs, like the UA Children’s Choir and concurrent FHS/UA enrollment, would also allow more sharing of facilities. The FHS swim team uses the pool in HPER. The WAC and most performing arts venues at the UA sit empty most of the time, heated or cooled, cleaned and maintained.
The Board and Administration need to work on getting back the public trust. They need to lose the image of being Country Club/Chamber of Commerce Republicans in bed with developers.
@DF:
Appraisals can vary wildly based on who orders them.
A piece of property or building is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
What comps did an appraiser use? Did they factor in adaptability (or non) of existing buildings to re-use?
So a 14% difference in an appraisal, (57 million instead of 50 million) with no other ready buyers was a good enough reason to turn down that real, money in hand and try to pass along $115 million in new taxes?
The voters mostly disagreed.
I would guess that given the downward adjustment of land values that has happened around here in the past 18 months might show that $50 million was a helluvan offer.
I voted YES, but I can easily understand why so many voted NO.
burgerboy’s first comment hit the nail on the head. Especially the point that this town is ultimately being run by those with the luxury of excess amounts of time on their hand claiming to speak on our behalf. This has been a jumbled mess from the very get go; we really need to go back to the very beginning and reconsider a two high school system.
And its important enough issue to go back to square one as its become quite obvious where the insistence on a single high school has lead: an outrageous series of proposals spiraling beyond absurdity.
Here’s to responsibly pursuing the best interest of our children…
The school district had two appraisals done by certified appraisers. An appraisal is normally done on the property as it sits, because that is normally how it is sold. The lower appraised value was $58 million; the higher was in the low to mid 60s. The district used the lower appraisal figure in considering the property in order to be more conservative in its calculations. As for current land values, even your hindsight isn’t exactly 20/20, as the value of a unique parcel such as the FHS site is less subject to swings in value than the value of every residential lot in Sprawlville. And you ignore the tentative offer of– what, $60 million?– which, for $10 million, was worth looking into. In any case, selling the property for $50 million would not have made either of the other proposed sites a bargain in comparison.
I would say that the voters didn’t disagree so much about the land sale– and it would have been hypocritical to demand fiscal responsibility on the one hand and such profligacy on the other– as about a general long-standing distrust of the school district administration and the economic climate.
Speaking of the economic climate: by the time a new proposal can be floated, construction costs will have returned to normal and inflation will have resumed. Any school built later rather than sooner will cost more– unless you build less school. Is less school called for? Possibly, but looking at actual costs per square foot and quality of construction of other area schools, not the 50% less some suggest.
burgerboy–
I reread your post, and I think I missed a point. As I recall, the University didn’t order an appraisal in connection with their offer, though they might have used an old one; they simply offered $50 million.
Even if the amount from some “Barber want to be” is higher why would we not help both UofA and Fay HS…..Last time I checked UofA is a HUGE reason for Fay HS growth…..I know it is all business, but please do we need any more cheap student housing vs. making U of A facilities better? Like Fay CC the HS is too south to be the HS for everyone anyway get it over close to Porter Road!
JMC–
You would want the school district to throw away $10 million for the sake of neioghborliness? The city is as helpful to the University as the other way around. Why did the University make a lowball offer to the city, and refuse to negotiate? Not very neighborly of them, I’d say, and their attitude likely wrecked the sale.
The proposed development would have included various types of housing, retail and entertainment uses. It would have increased both density and diversity of use in the area– both goals of the new Master Plan. It would have been a better fit to its context than the Campus Crest proposal, and a logistical improvement as well.
David ………..One in the hand, two in the bush. Hell the group that made the offer did not even give the proper proof of ability to get loan(pre Econ bust) and did not promise a single penny when they bailed.
$10 Million of Monopoly money, look where we are…and no I did not need a crystal ball, as usual Fay is more emotional than a 16 year old.
JMC, your smart-aleck attitude does nothing to further the debate. I’m one of those “libs” you refer to but there’s a big difference between most of us and most of you: most of us vote on an issue, not along just party lines. It’s why I voted against Pryor, for Obama and against the millage.
The millage was a bad deal for the taxpayers of my city. It was like TARP — not enough information, not enough accountability, planning or oversight.
The government shouldn’t have implemented TARP. Fayetteville shouldn’t implement this millage. At least on this one we had a vote and that’s why it failed, because the citizens decided. We were the decider. You and me together on this one.
Free your mind, son.
IO -Oh when it comes to Fay and the way they run business you bet I am a smartalic (sp). This was a great start to tell elected folks that we are tired of their demo-god attitude and I applaud Fay for this vote! Like my first post, I want a new HS but not one shoved in my face and it should cost $15 Million after we sell to the UofA with our hat in our hand.
As I recall, the $50 million sale to UA would have netted about $9 million after the rental payments to the UA that the deal also contained.
It’s not so much the location that needed to change, it was a lot of other things. Like lack of collaboration with the UofA, and stifling requirements to pass tests. Programs being cut that were only pad attention to halfway to begin with.
The tech school got caught – big mistake. And New + White didn’t bother much with collaborating on academics or sports. Thomas + Gearhardt is will be dream come true compared, no matter what has happened.
Wow.. what a typo! caught=cut
Build the high school off of Morningside. It’s a beautiful location with Mt. Sequoyah prominently displayed in the background. Sell to the U of A and build the same concept on flat land. It would save $$$ and still allow Fayetteville to have their world class design. I really hope they re-evaluate the property at Morningside and forget about the Deane Solomon location.
Location and cost are the issues. I feel that it is irresponible to invest in the present location. At the time that this decision was made it had not been stated that 1. The cost per suqare foot at the present location would be much greater than at a new one. 2. There would be a REDUCTION in the already inadequate parking availability and 3. There would be no expansion of the available athletic field space. When one reviews these facts it is clear that the present location is inadequate. I do not understand why the school people are blind to this obvious fact. We can not pass a millage increase untill they are willing to acknowledge these facts and open discussion of an alternative site.
Fayetteville is (and will be) big enough to need multiple high schools. The current location is land-locked and will not scale with growth even with a 100+ million dollar renovation.
Put money into education w/ teachers, and in the meantime, build another high school somewhere else in the city.
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