SHELBY — Shelby City Schools is seeking to add a final piece to its campus on the city’s west side.
The district’s bus garage, currently found on Walnut Street, is the only facility missing from Shelby’s campus — which includes its pre-K-8 building, high school, Whippet Athletic Complex, FFA barn and board offices.
Scott Rose, president of the Shelby Board of Education, said earlier this year that the current bus garage is about 70 years old.
The footprint of the campus recently expanded after the board approved the purchase of 24.87 acres for $460,095 during its meeting on July 21, according to district records. The nearly 25 acres, located at or near 4341 State St., is comprised of two parcels running adjacent to the campus.
Money from the district’s general fund was used to purchase the land.
David Conley, owner of Rockmill Financial Consulting out of Westerville, presented financial pathways Monday evening for the district to construct a new garage. He’s worked with the district for about 20 years.
For about the past four to five months, Conley worked with district officials to come up with a conservative estimate of about $6 million to build a new bus garage. He said the district could afford to finance this amount, which would include necessary equipment to outfit the facility.
Rover Pipeline ruling
Conley also brought up the Ohio Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold a 2024 Ohio Board of Tax Appeals decision on Rover Pipeline’s public utility property tax valuation.
According to the Canton Repository, the board determined the Ohio portion of the pipeline — which spans more than 700 miles — was valued at nearly $3.67 billion for the 2019 tax year, when the company began its appeal.
“There is the possibility that you all will receive your delinquent taxes of some amount,” Conley said. “That puts you (district) in the position right now of making a decision between borrowing for this particular (bus garage) project or waiting to see if you actually get money from Rover.”
He estimated Shelby could receive roughly between $10 to $12 million. If the district received funds from Rover within that estimate, it wouldn’t be necessary to borrow money for a new bus garage.
“You could just pay cash,” Conley said. “And based on your current financial condition, I think you would be very comfortable in doing that. But, we don’t know how long it will take for this money to become real.”
The decision ultimately comes down to how quickly the district wants to begin the project.
If Shelby chooses to finance the cost of a new bus garage, Conley said a feature could be worked into the financing to allow the district to pay the project off early should the Rover funds materialize.
“From my perspective, the key deciding factor is whether or not you want to do this project now or potentially wait a year,” he told the board.
Future action
Conley told the board to expect a resolution by its next meeting to authorize the borrowing of up to $6 million for the bus garage project.
He said the resolution itself does not obligate the board to borrow the money, but it gives Madison Ratliff, the district’s new treasurer, the authority to proceed if all conditions are met.
It will also include language specifying the interest rate is not to exceed six-percent.
“The resolution will lay out the guardrails for the financing process,” Conley said.
Rose said part of the district’s mission statement is making the community proud of the things it does — fiscal responsibility and security included. He thanked Conley for his guidance.