School plans exceed budget

OREM — Two high schools the Alpine School District is building with money from bond issuances will cost more than budgeted, district officials said Wednesday.

"The cost of building has skyrocketed," Board of Education Vice President Andrea Forsyth said during a meeting with the Orem City Council. "... We built into the bond (budget) inflation. It is not (enough). Both high schools are running way over what we had projected. So we are kind of back to the drawing board and scaling down (plans for one of the high schools)."

Rebuilding Orem High was budgeted to cost $25 million.

"It's hard to say (the costs) at this point," said Alpine Superintendent Vern Henshaw. "Obviously, we know it's going to cost more than $25 million. I'm sure it's going to go over $30 million."

And the Saratoga Springs High School was budgeted to cost $40 million.

"It'll probably be closer to around $50 million," Henshaw said.

The high school that will be scaled down is Orem High, which is to be rebuilt in phases on its current site on 400 East.

Construction could start as soon as next year and continue for about 24 months.

Bud Mahas Construction last month broke ground at the second high school, in Saratoga Springs near 400 North and 300 West. It is scheduled to open in fall 2009.

In November, voters authorized the school district to issue $230 million in bonds for construction and remodeling of schools. The school district promised not to increase property tax rates to repay the bond debt, rather relying on revenue from new homes and businesses as well as money from increased property valuations.

Gas, steel, concrete and other costs associated with construction have boosted building costs beyond what was initially budgeted, Henshaw said.

Alpine is not the only Utah school district caught off guard by construction costs.

Last month, Ogden School District announced its $95.3 million bond issuance is $40 million shy of the amount needed for school construction and remodeling — also due to unanticipated construction inflation.

Nebo, Davis and Jordan school districts have additionally struggled to stretch money to make good on promises when voters approved bond issuances for the new and remodeled schools and property purchases.

In the Alpine School District, employees and community members have been meeting over the past four months to discuss what they would want in the Orem and Saratoga Spring high schools.