FALL RIVER — A new B.M.C. Durfee High School will move forward with the help of a debt exclusion after voters approved the measure by a 4,941 - 3,136 margin.
There were 8,084 ballots cast, and a 16.6 percent turnout of the city's registered voters.
The proposed 501,000-square-foot facility, to be build on Durfee's current Elsbree Street campus, is estimated to cost around $263.5 million with the Massachusetts School Building Authority agreeing to pay $165 million — about 62.5 percent of the total cost — and the city contributing $98.5 million. To pay the city’s share, Mayor Jasiel Correia’s administration has proposed paying $40 million from the tax levy and $58.5 million through a debt exclusion. Those estimates work out to the average homeowner in Fall River paying about $115 a year in extra property taxes over the life of a 30-year-bond, beginning in 2023.
Supporters said the city needs a new Durfee because the current school was ill-designed, poorly-built and is falling apart, which will endanger the school's next accreditation cycle in 2022. Supporters also argue that building a new Durfee with MSBA funds is more cost-effective than renovating the current school. Correia's administration has also says it is confident that the city can absorb the entire amount of the debt exclusion by 2030, which means property owners would only have to pay higher taxes for about eight years.
Opponents argued the resulting tax increase will hurt the city's homeowners, especially the elderly on fixed incomes, and drive up rents for tenants, possibly increasing the city's homeless population. Opponents note that future mayoral administrations could require individual property owners to pay a bigger share of the project's costs because of unforeseen events such as losing local aid from the state or other unexpected capital needs.
This story will be updated with reaction from supporters and opponents of the vote.