Edwardsville CUSD No. 7 will receive approximately $4.5 million per year in additional revenue per year if CSFT is passed.  The District 7 Board of Education will develop a final plan, and options the Board of Education will consider include:

• Paying for the over $12 million in identified Health Life Safety repairs/improvements (HVAC systems, plumbing, roofs, parking lots, etc.) without issuing bonds that could result in a higher District Debt Service Tax Rate
• Paying off existing school building bond debt and potentially lowering the District’s Debt Service Tax Rate
• Paying for safety and security upgrades; including video camera systems, doors, etc.
• Paying for general maintenance of existing facilities
• Paying for installation of technology infrastructure upgrades
• Paying for the construction of additions and renovations to existing facilities
• Paying for the construction of new facilities
• Paying for repairs and improvements to the District’s Fine Arts’ facilities
• Paying for repairs and improvements to the District’s athletic facilities

District 7 Background Information

• The County School Facility Sales Tax is a county-wide 1% sales tax that would generate revenue that could only be used for school facility purposes. The revenue from the sales tax would be distributed among all Madison County School Districts based upon student enrollment. District 7 would receive 19% of the total revenue generated in Madison County, approximately $4.5 million annually.
• District 7’s architect, Woolpert, Inc., has completed the ten-year HLS survey of District 7 school buildings and has identified over $12 million in repairs/improvements that would meet the necessary requirements to qualify for Health Life Safety funding. While $12 million is a large amount, it is still less than 5% of the District’s total appraised building value of approximately $245 million.
• Due to the financial crisis that District 7 has faced over the past eight years, numerous school building repair/improvement projects have been delayed. Unfortunately, these building projects cannot continue to be deferred indefinitely; they need to be addressed within the next five years.