The Upper Perkiomen School Board this month will vote on a measure to begin borrowing funds for the construction of a new middle school.

                District officials will consider a measure to borrow $10 million, according to Superintendent Alexis McGloin. Officials did not specify at which September board meeting they expect the vote to occur.

                Last week, the board discussed the details of purchasing a new bond. On Aug. 25, a Harrisburg financial adviser told board members that they could borrow the money with a current interest rate of 2.07 percent.  "That's a very low rate," said John Frey, of Public Financial Management.

                According to Sandra Kassel, the district's business manager, that interest rate could be even lower in October, and Frey suggested that the board could settle on a loan amount and lock in a rate then.

                District officials have proposed constructing a new middle school at the intersection of Walt Road and Montgomery Avenue in Upper Hanover. The three-story structure – for sixth, seven and eighth graders – would be built on a 19-acre footprint near the high school.

                It would cost an estimated $56 million to fund the entire construction project, and Kassel said the project will require additional tax dollars.

                If the district borrows all of the $56 million for the project, without receiving compensation from Pennsylvania's PlanCon program, it would add the equivalent of 2.2 mills annually to the district's expenditures, according to Frey. He said reimbursement from the commonwealth would reduce that figure to 2.07 mills.

                The estimated millage increase presented by Frey at the Aug. 25 meeting would cover expenses of the project over a three-year period, Kassel said in an Aug. 28 email.

                "Mr. Frey did say it was a conservative estimate so we do expect the impact will be less," Kassel wrote in the message.

                The district would initially seek to borrow $10 million, with additional funds being sought in 2017, 2018 and 2019, according to Frey.  "We can refine the numbers as we receive construction bids and things change," he told the board.

                McGloin said last week that district officials hope to break ground on the project next summer.

                The superintendent previously said that the district could fund the building with little to no impact on property taxes. She said that there is now "a perfect storm to proceed with some type of construction," citing the potential refinancing of a bond set to come due in 2017, along with a recently completed study projecting student growth over the next 10 years and a feasibility study that shows the need for additional space at Marlborough Elementary and the middle school.

                In May, the board approved a measure to apply for Pennsylvania's PlanCon program by submitting and completing a set of planning and construction forms prior to the beginning of an 18-month moratorium.

     That reimbursement figure would depend on a variety of factors, such as the aide ratio, scope of the project and the amount of instructional space, according to the superintendent.

                During the most recent meeting, board member Jonathan Warren estimated that the district would receive $1 million in state reimbursement for every $10 million spent on the project.