SARANAC LAKE — Saranac Lake Central School District officials are weighing several options for spreading out the cost of a proposed $18.7 million upgrade to school buildings.

The district’s board of education met Wednesday with representatives of the financial consulting firm Bernard P. Donegan Inc. to discuss how it would borrow the money to pay for the capital project.

“They came with lots of financial projections,” said school Superintendent Diane Fox. “No final  decision was made as to how we’re going to spread out our debt service. We just looked at various scenarios of how we might want that to flow.”

While the project would cost $18.75, the total amount it would have to borrow, including interest, would be $26.6 million. However, the district is expecting to get aid back from the state that would cover 54.5 percent of the project’s total cost, “so the local share comes to be about $13.5 million,” Fox said.

The district could spread out that cost in several ways. It could split up the bond payments evenly over 15 years or it could “step” them so that it pays more in the first few years but less in the last few years.

“We’re still looking at trying to structure our payment so there’s some natural drop off at five or so years, so we can build back into a routine,” Fox said. “We want to be fair to the people who come behind us, so they could possibly do some smaller capital projects on a more regular basis, but we also want to be fair to our taxpayers who are paying for this.”

The tax increase to pay for the capital project would likely average 16 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value over the life of the bonds, although it may start higher before coming down, Fox said.

The board plans to continue discussion of its borrowing plan for the capital project at its next meeting at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 16.

“We don’t really have to make a decision for a couple years because that’s when we’ll begin our borrowing, but we also want to share our plans with the taxpayers,” Fox said.

The plan involves upgrades to every school. Work at the high school would include sidewalk replacement, rehabilitation of track and field surfaces, upgrades to the electrical system, replacing the fire safety system and the gym floor and bleachers.

At Petrova Elementary School and the Saranac Lake Middle School, which share the same building, the district plans to reconfigure the bus loop and student drop off area to allow buses to drop off students in a separate location. The school would also get a new roof and fire prevention system, among other items.

Bloomingdale Elementary School’s list includes adding doors and partitions to separate classrooms, replacing leaking skylights and replacing the electrical service.

At the former Lake Colby Elementary School, which the district rents as a preschool, the stairs at the main entrance would be replaced. Window replacement is planned at the school bus garage on state Route 3 near Bloomingdale.

A facilities improvement report found the district’s buildings need $43 million worth of work.

“The $18.7 million, we feel, is a responsible number to put out,” Fox said. “I think when people look at what’s in the proposal, they’ll see it’s some basic things we need. There’s no fluff in it. We hope there will be public support for it.”

The words “capital project” carry a lot of baggage for the school district. Its last major capital project in the 1990s sparked a lawsuit after school officials determined the wrong kind of fill was used in renovations at Bloomingdale Elementary, the Petrova building and the high school. The fill contained pyrite, which expands and contracts with changes in moisture and temperature, and caused the heavy concrete slabs that rested on it to move and crack, which caused walls and door frames to move.

Voters approved a second capital project to fix the problems, and in 2008 the district settled the lawsuit against the contractors involved in the original capital project for $2.58 million.

Fox wasn’t the district’s superintendent then but she said she’s still “living the repercussions.

“There’s been a lot of discussion on the board about having someone local be a clerk of the works,” she said. “There are some people who were here then, remember that well and are nervous about making sure we don’t do that a second time.”

The public vote on this $18.7 million capital project is set for Jan. 10. In the past, such projects have been on the ballot in May when voters consider approving the school budget for the next year and electing school board members.

Fox said holding the vote earlier had a lot to do with the lengthy state Education Department approval process for the project. If it happens in January, the district could get started on some of the work this summer.

“We have some roofing, some windows and doors and other things that get an expedited review, so you don’t have to go through the full process at state Ed,” she said. “If we didn’t do that until May, in the regular vote, then we would miss the summer season. You can’t do any submissions to state Ed until you get voter approval. January allows us more time to get that done.”