The Elizabethton City School (ECS) system has made millions of dollars worth of capital improvement to its facilities since 2008, and school board members hope to continue that momentum.
In order to accomplish this, the school board voted unanimously Tuesday to request that the City Council allow the half cent sales tax to continue coming to the school system through the life of its two current bonds. This means that ECS would receive the half cent sales tax revenue until 2033, rather than until 2018 as was initially agreed.
In 2008, City Council approved that a half cent be added to local sales tax, raising it from 9.25 percent from 9.75 percent. This additional funding, usually between $750,000 and $800,000 annually, comes to ECS for capital improvement projects.
According to City of Elizabethton Director of Finance Deborah Kessler, ECS was issued a $6,750,000 bond in 2008 to begin capital improvement projects following approval of the half cent sales tax. The city makes annual payments of around $720,000 towards the bond from the proceeds of the sales tax, Kessler said.
Since 2008, ECS has used the initial bond (paid by the half cent sales tax) to pay for:
• Roof replacements at Harold McCormick Elementary and Elizabethton High School (approximately. $1.5 million)
• Addition of gym at West Side Elementary (approximately $2.3 million)
• Window replacements at East Side and West Side (approximately $900,000)
• Addition of gym at East Side (approximately $2.2 million)
Since 2013, when the second bond was issued for $5 million, ECS has made the following improvements, with help from the private donors in the community:
• Addition of Music Room at EHS (approximately $350,000)
• Addition of Citizens Bank Stadium (approximately $4 million)
Creatively utilizing existing space and resources is not new for ECS students, teachers and coaches, as was evidenced by the recent displacement of music students at EHS to the gym while the new music room nears completion. The story is similar at each school: growing enrollment with infrastructural improvement that school board members feel has not quite kept pace.
“Before the gym was added, East Side had the ‘cafe-gym-atorium,’ so now they have a gym with a stage, and separate cafeteria,” said Beth Wilson, ECS director of business and fiscal management.
Harold McCormick Principal Eric Wampler explained to council members on a schools walkthrough in Fall 2015 that the school moves computers around to suit whatever purpose they can serve until they can be of no more use. Classes and teachers use the space and resources which are available, but school board members feel it is time to make upgrades.
Director of Schools Dr. Corey Gardenhour explained to City Council representatives at workshop in February that addressing these needs now, means more efficient operation and preparation for the future.
“Every dollar of deferred maintenance is worth 4 dollars, so it’s a big payoff when we take care of those things,” said Gardenhour. “It saves both energy and time. Being able to use [the half cent sales tax through the life of the current bonds] would really be looking at taking care of deferred maintenance like HVAC and electrical that need to be upgraded now.”
In some schools, like Harold McCormick, he said upgrades like electrical and HVAC, replacing windows and dropping ceilings are not possible until the asbestos is removed from the walls, tiles and ceiling.
“We can’t change the HVAC there until we get the asbestos out because it comes through the wall,” Gardenhour explained to Councilmen in February. “We’ve spent a lot of money other places because of the large amount of money it would take to get the asbestos out.”
Gardenhour said the retention of the half cent sales tax through the life of the bonds would help cover the costs of the Five Year Capital Expenditure Plan. This plan includes asbestos removal at Harold McCormick, recurring computer replacement, HVAC unit, heat exchanger replacement in all schools, bus purchases, classroom additions at T.A. Dugger Jr. High and at each elementary school, electrical updates at the elementary schools, new roofs at Central Office and T.A. Dugger, and additional projects.
“I think that would help us, over a period of time, to make improvements that we need to have as far as infrastructure,” said Gardenhour. “Because of aging infrastructure, we need to be looking towards using those dollars to supplement what we already have to make needed changes so that we do not have to go back to the city and ask them for a large amount of money.”
At the workshop with City Council in February, Gardenhour pointed out as enrollment increases, ECS receives more money from the state with due to growth, as well as per-student financial increases. Not only that, but he pointed out that more families living in Elizabethton means greater property tax revenue and improved local economy.
Any difference between the cost of the bonds and the income from the half cent sales tax, called “sales tax in excess of bond payments,” can be used for additional ECS capital improvement projects. Wilson said these funds in the past few years have funded remodeling East Side Elementary’s cafeteria and adding early learning classrooms, remodeling the vocational area at the high school and similar projects.
Board member Tyler Fleming pointed out that a resolution passed by City Council to grant the half cent sales tax till 2033 is not binding and could be repealed by future Councilmen, but said it is a step in the right direction.

In their request to Council members to continue the flow of the half cent sales tax to ECS, board members are also requesting the council allow ECS to use the old hospital property behind EHS for recreational purposes. The approximately 5-acre property between West G Street and Jason Witten Way has been vacant for around 25 years, said Richard VanHuss, assistant director of ECS.
VanHuss said they want students and members of the Elizabethton/Carter County Boys and Girls Club to be able to use the property recreationally, as well as possible use by Parks and Recreation’s flag football or other teams.
Maintenance costs would be mowing and the one-time cost of grading and seeding. The schools’ proposal promises that if the property sells, ECS would abandon the premises and would be reimbursed for grading and seeding expenses, amortized over a 30 year period. VanHuss said ECS would agree to mow and maintain the premises and would manage it with facilities use forms, like its other facilities.
“The way it is now is no one’s using it; we would maintain it and use it,” said VanHuss. “Our facilities are used to the max now.”