School project’s price rises to $99 million
Published on January 10, 2023 in West Lebanon Valley News
By CHRISTINA DOLAN
Valley News Staff Writer
WOODSTOCK — The new school building project for Woodstock’s middle and high school now has a price tag of $99 million, according to an announcement last month by the Mountain Views Supervisory Union.
That number is a significant increase from the $80 million estimate projected in the fall.
At a Dec. 19 Woodstock Selectboard meeting, Ben Ford, a Woodstock representative to the supervisory union board and the new building committee’s chairman, fielded questions from residents concerned about the rising project cost and its potential tax implications.
Acknowledging that $99 million is a “significant escal ation” from earlier estimates, he explained that the increase is the result of inflation and steep labor costs.
“I know everyone’s hair is going to blow back when I say this number,” Ford said as he announced the new figure, which emerged from a “costing exercise” carried out in early December. He noted that if the Mountain Views Supervisory Union (MVSU) did not take any actions to mitigate the tax rate impact, homestead tax rate increases would reach nearly 34%.
“That’s not affordable for our district,” he said. MVSU includes the member towns of Woodstock, Barnard, Bridgewater, Pomfret, Reading, Killington and Plymouth.
The proposed new building would be a two-story, 161,000-square-foot space with net-zero energy capability and capacity for 700 students. It would be fully Americans with Disabilities Actcompliant and include outdoor classrooms and community and performance spaces.