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Muncie Community Schools preliminarily approves up to $19.8 million bond package to address deferred maintenance
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Summary
Board members approved a set of preliminary resolutions to issue bonds — estimated not to exceed $19,800,000 — to finance roofing, HVAC, door replacements, bleachers and other deferred maintenance while aiming to remain tax neutral through short-term structuring.
MUNCIE, Ind. — The Muncie Community Schools Board of Trustees voted during a public hearing to preliminarily approve financing for a district capital project described by staff as “not to exceed $19,800,000,” a package aimed at replacing aging boilers and roofs, improving safety-related exterior doors, resurfacing athletic facilities and addressing other deferred maintenance.
Brad Jerome, the district finance official, told the board the proposal responds to infrastructure needs across the district and is structured to combine general obligation and lease-rental debt so the district can preserve flexibility and try to avoid raising the tax rate. “These original estimates [are] not to exceed $19,800,000,” Jerome said, describing priorities that include boiler replacement at the fieldhouse, chillers at Northside Middle School, bleacher replacements and more than 50,000 square feet of roofing work.
The hearing is part of the legal process under Indiana law that requires public notice, at least two hearings and adoption of preliminary resolutions before a school corporation may issue bonds or enter a lease financing for projects of this scale. Jerome explained the district’s strategy of using short-term bonds in part to retire existing short-term debt and, he said, achieve a tax-neutral outcome over time.
Rick Yenser, who identified himself as a “newsman and author,” urged caution and asked whether the district would prioritize short-term borrowing and local labor. “I would hope that it’s short term because… it’s time to wait and see,” Yenser said, citing concerns about state funding cuts and recent assessment increases that have affected taxpayers.
Board members and staff responded that much of the work is safety-driven and the financing is intended to limit immediate taxpayer impact. After presentation and public comment, the board approved three separate measures required by the bond process: the project resolution (which establishes the estimated hard and soft costs and maximum project amount), the preliminary determination resolution (which sets maximum annual payments and other financial terms), and a reimbursement resolution (a federal-tax compliance step that permits pre-closing project expenditures to be reimbursed from bond proceeds). Each passed on voice votes following motions and seconds.
Votes at a glance - Project resolution (establishes project scope and maximum cost): moved by Mister Wells; approved by voice vote. - Preliminary determination resolution (sets terms, estimated principal and tax impact): approved by voice vote. - Reimbursement resolution (permits reimbursement of pre-closing costs): approved by voice vote.
Why it matters The board framed the project as addressing safety and long-deferred maintenance in buildings that, in some cases, date to the 1970s. District leaders said retiring existing debt and structuring the new borrowing in two pieces should blunt immediate tax impacts, but community members raised questions about timing, local contractor participation and the long-term fiscal picture amid state-level changes to school funding.
What’s next The preliminary approvals advance the legal financing process; the board must complete the remaining statutory steps and finalize bond sale details with counsel and financial advisors before proceeds are issued and work begins. The district said further public engagement and design/spec work will precede construction.
