ENID — A $99.45 million dollar price tag is hardly pocket change, but the Enid Public Schools district is looking at an even higher price tag if its facility problems aren’t addressed immediately.

If voters choose to pass the bond issue in Tuesday’s election the payoff is 17 years but, unlike many bonds be-fore it, the construction of this bond issue won’t span the entire length of the payoff.

“If we built it over 17 years, projections are it would cost $71 million more,” said EPS Super-intendent Shawn Hime.

This bond issue will be done differently.

“We’ve done what’s called a ‘series bond’ in the past,” said Brian Hayden, a member of the facility planning committee for the district.

Rather than using a series bond, the district will use a revenue bond for this bond issue.

“What the revenue bond does is it makes all the money available now,” said Hayden.

The cost-saving plan for this bond issue is to have all the construction completed in three years.

“We know we’ll be able to complete all the projects under budget,” said Hime.

Construction costs are very sensitive to many different kinds of events and planning a slow construction process is not fiscally responsible, he said.

“Two hurricanes and a steel shortage drove (construction) prices up,” said Hime. “You can’t predict that.”

Saving taxpayer money is an important reason to finish the construction quickly but it also will benefit the district in other ways.

“We need those classrooms now,” said Hime.

EPS currently has 10 elementary schools and of those, seven are over capacity.

“The students of today will be able to take advantage of (the new construction), which is the most exciting part,” said Hime. “Some of our students will start in newly renovated schools this fall.”

The district also has found another way to save money with this bond issue.

“We’ll be using Build America Bonds,” said Hime.

Build America Bonds were part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the Stimulus Plan, and carry special tax credits.

“What that does is it returns some of the interest back to the projects, back to the schools,” said Hayden.

“Build America Bonds will pay us back 35 percent of the interest,” said Hime. “That will save the taxpayers $5-6 million.”

Hime said it was important to take advantage of the Build America Bonds.

“I believe if they’re going to give the money away, we need to get as much in Enid, Oklahoma, as we can,” said Hime.

“It’s kind of like a discount or a rebate,” said Hayden.

If voters pass the bond issue, pre-construction work will begin immediately and construction will begin the day school is let out for the summer.

Hayden said it is important to cast a yes vote now because the construction is much needed and inevitable but will only get more expensive.

“We have the Build America Bond option that will probably not be available later,” said Hayden. “The longer we wait, all that is going to happen is it’s going to get more expensive.”

The school’s overcrowding issue is not a temporary one and old buildings are getting older by the day, he said.

“I think with inflation and continual deterioration (of facilities), the problems are compounding,” said Hayden. “I just don’t know what we’re going to do if this doesn’t pass.”

Carter Group is the construction management firm hired by EPS to oversee the new construction. Danny Jardine, senior vice president and head of educational program management, is committed to keeping the district’s construction within budget.

“All of the programs that I’ve ever managed end up coming in under budget and on schedule,” said Jardine. “You manage the process and the budget. You’ve got to control the scope to keep it from expanding.”

In his work, Jardine has come to realize the importance of a quality learning facility.

“Research shows that the quality of facilities do impact the quality of education,” said Jardine.

Good things already are going on in Enid’s classrooms, and Jardine said improving the facilities will raise the bar even higher.

“When our survey team came out we visited every classroom in the district,” said Jardine. “We saw a lot of teaching going on, a lot of interacting. That speaks highly of the teachers and the students. This is a community that cares about education. People put kids in the public schools (in Enid) because they know they’re getting a good product.”

Bond issues must have a supermajority — 60 percent of the vote — to pass.