Lisbon voters to decide on $16M project

LISBON, New York (WWNY) - Voters in the Lisbon Central School District will weigh in Tuesday on a $16 million improvement project, much of which will fund a new 16,200-square-foot bus garage and maintenance facility built on the main campus.

The project would also include updates to the school’s main building.

Voting is from 1 to 9 p.m. in the school lobby.

About 80% of the money will come from state aid, $500,000 from district reserves, and rest from property taxes.

In a message on the district’s website, officials say a resident with a $100,000 property will see an increase of $89.41 starting in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

“This project is about student safety and protecting the district’s investments, while working to minimize the impact on taxpayers,” school superintendent Patrick Farrand said. “We want to make sure students are getting to school safely, and to do so we must be able to maintain and take care of our school buses.”

He said the district factored in a state mandate that requires districts to begin purchasing electric buses in 2027 and have a fully electric fleet by 2035.

“If we’re constructing any type of facility, we want to make sure we’re planning ahead so whatever we construct will meet future New York State mandates,” he said.