FWCS wants to cut repair plan in half

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Fort Wayne Community Schools board members hope to save almost $600,000 a year by hiring a company that will help cut energy costs.

At the same time, the board has changed its plans to repair buildings. Instead of asking the community to pay $240 million for emergency repairs , the project will be broken in half. That means the district would ask taxpayers to support a $120 million referendum now and another $120 million in five years.

"There's just a concern among board members that people will not understand the $240 million number and how it could be structured financially to have the same impact by spreading it out as the lower number," explained FWCS Board President Mark GiaQuinta. "Some board members said that number itself will be a non-starter for some folks." He added the interesting part is both the plans would have the same $27 a year impact on families, but the number on the ballot will influence voters more.

The board should vote on the revised plan at the December 12 meeting to get the measure on the May ballot.

In the meantime, the district has a plan to help save money by saving energy. Performance Services, Inc. claims it can save FWCS $590,000 a year by incorporating new energy-efficient behaviors for employees.
The district will pay the company $367,000 a year to implement the plan and hire two energy managers. The idea is to save the money by making behavioral changes and not capital equipment changes.
    
It's a decision the board didn't make lightly, but members and administrators say with or without the capital projects money, they'll need to cut costs wherever they can.

"That's a difficult decision to spend $367,000 a year," said Chief Financial Officer Kathy Friend. "But the fact that that it is a guaranteed savings program for us shows us that it's not going to be an additional cost to the general fund. It's savings we might not have realized had we not used some additional support to make that happen."

The district would only pay the company for five years and after that time, the programs should run on their own. If FWCS doesn't hit that $590,000 savings mark, it won't have to pay the company.