Nearly $1B in school bonds is on the ballot in Lancaster, Chester and York counties

Voters in three of South Carolina’s Charlotte metro counties will decide the fate of nearly $1 billion in school bond referendums this election. School districts in Lancaster, Chester, and York counties are looking to expand capacity and enhance security features in campus buildings.

Meanwhile voters in Chesterfield County are being asked to renew the county school district’s penny sales tax to help fund upgrades to athletic facilities, general renovations, and expanded classroom and cafeteria spaces.

Lancaster

The largest of the referendums on the ballot is in Lancaster, where the county school district is seeking $588.15 million, mostly for the construction of four new school buildings. The district serves almost 16,000 students in 22 schools; it is looking to add an elementary school and a high school to fast-growing Indian Land (which would use $315.6 million of the bond funds); a new elementary school in Lancaster ($113.45 million); and a new elementary school in Kershaw ($95 million).

An additional $37.6 million is earmarked for districtwide facilities upgrades, while $26.5 million would pay for security, safety, and facilities upgrades in the Buford community.

The tax impact on voters, should the referendum pass, would be about $65 per year for every $100,000 of assessed property value of an owner-occupied home, and per every $10,000 of assessed vehicle value. That tax would bump to $92 per year $100,000 of assessed value of non-owner-occupied residential properties.

Chester

In Chester, voters will decide on $227 million that would fund a pair of new high schools and upgrades to another.

The new high schools would replace the current buildings in Chester and Lewisville. The upgrades would be made at Great Falls High School.

The money raised by the referendum would cover most of the costs of the projects. According to information published by the district, the referendum would pay $99.1 million towards the new high school in Chester and $100.15 million towards the new high school in Lewisville. The remaining $16.8 million to complete both projects would be paid for by the district’s capital funds – which would pay for a theater and a gym at each location.

The tax impact, according to the district, would be $230 annually per $100,000 of assessed home value, plus $34.50 for every $10,000 of assessed vehicle value. The owner of a home valued at $100,000 and a vehicle valued at $10,000, therefore, would pay an additional $264.50 per year in taxes, if the bond referendum passes.

That is a big if, however. Chester voters have denied three successive bond referendums, in 2018, 2020, and 2022.

District spokesman Chris Christoff said that following the 2022 referendum, voters stated that they had felt the district was trying “to do a little too much at one time.” In response, the district launched a series of listening sessions this past spring.

“We asked, if we were to pursue a fourth referendum, what would you want to see,” Christoff said.

A follow-up survey asked whether voters understood the capacity, security, and facilities conditions issues in the district. According to the district, about 80% of the roughly 1,000 respondents said they better understood what they would be voting on, which is a scaled-down slate of projects that no longer include athletics expansions or work to the district career center.

If the referendum fails this round, Christoff said, the district will spent about $20 million of its own capital funds to replace the roofs at Great Falls and Chester high schools, plus other funds to buy additional modular classrooms in Lewisville – the fastest-growing area of the school district, he said.

Chester County School District serves about 5,500 students, which is up from about 5,100 students in 2018-19.

York

The smallest referendum on the ballot for Pee Dee voters this election is a $90 million bond that would pay for a new middle school and expansion and renovations to a learning center in York County School District 1, in York.

According to the district, four elementary schools and one middle school are between 80% and 90% capacity in a district that continues to grow along with the Charlotte metro. As of March, almost 2,400 new homes in the City of York are on tap from development plans in place, according to the district

Therefore, the district maintains, a new middle school is needed to meet that growth as elementary students age up.

The district also wants to renovate its Pinckney Street Learning Center/York One Academy to become an early childhood center.

The tax impact on voters would be $36 additional per year for every $100,000 of assessed home value; $54 per year for every $100,000 of assessed value on second or rental properties; and $945 per year for every $1 million of assessed business property value.