Levy Update: Rebuilding Federal Way High School
One of two levies on the ballot February 14, 2012, is a $60 million capital levy. A portion of the capital levy dollars will help rebuild playgrounds at 19 of the district's elementary schools and improve video security equipment in our schools. But, the lion's share of the capital levy will help rebuild Federal Way High School (FWHS). This article provides a closer look at how the cost to rebuild FWHS has been calculated.
The estimated full cost of rebuilding the school is $110 million, but due to a variety of factors, the community's direct contribution will be just $60 million over the next six years – a little more than half the total cost. The balance will be paid with a combination of funds from the previous bond measure and anticipated state match funding – money that legally can't be used for anything but construction costs.
Here's another plus for our community. By financing the project through a capital levy rather than a bond measure, the district will save taxpayers an estimated $29 million in interest -- and the school will be paid for in six years.
How did the district arrive at the $110 million price tag?
Whenever a major construction project is developed, a number of assumptions and variables are factored in.
The first thing to know is that the costs for a capital project budget generally break into two categories:
- So-called "soft costs", which include things like sales tax, architect and engineering fees, the costs of permits, and furniture, fixtures and equipment. These soft costs will comprise about one-third of the budget for this project.
- Maximum allowable construction costs (MACC). MACC are the costs of construction.
Determining what those costs will actually be requires making some assumptions. Those include the number of students that the school will serve and how much square footage you anticipate needing per student. We also assume a given cost per square foot and, finally, factor in construction inflation.
The rebuilt Federal Way High School will accommodate a minimum of 1,600 students. We also figured an average of 140 square feet per student, at a cost of $265 per square foot. Finally, despite a still-weak construction industry in the state, we have factored in a construction inflation rate of 3 percent per year. Using these assumptions, we are anticipating a $110 million total construction cost. That overall cost breaks out as follows:
- Soft Costs $29.6 million
- MACC $59.4 million
- Construction Inflation $21.0 million
How does this cost compare to nationwide and statewide construction costs?
The anticipated $265 per square foot cost of Federal Way High School is well in line with the average cost of the last five high school construction projects in the state. Here's a very current local school construction example: a recent article in the News Tribune reported that Tacoma's new Baker Middle School, which opened in December 2011, cost $49 million. The 119,000-square-foot building will serve a student body of 600 students.
Washington's construction costs for new schools tend to be higher than the nationwide average, for a variety of reasons. Those include the highest minimum wage in the nation and strong environmental standards, particularly in regards to water.
Learn more about the capital levy at www.fwps.org/info/levy.
Posted: January 25, 2012