Coogan: Cost to build a new Diman will soar to $6.5M a year. Here's what he wants to do.

FALL RIVER — In February 2022, the City Council voted to approve a nearly $300 million construction project for the new Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School.

Unlike in Diman's sending communities of Somerset, Swansea and Westport, where paying for their portion of the school was on town ballots, the council side-stepped putting the project before city voters, although it was an option.

About 75% of Diman's student population lives in Fall River.

Now the hard financial realities are percolating to the surface regarding how much Fall River’s portion of a new Diman will be in the coming years, and Mayor Paul Coogan wants to place a question on November’s ballot asking voters to decide whether the project should be paid for through a debt exclusion.

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What is a debt exclusion?

Municipalities are allowed to increase the tax levy a maximum of 2.5% every year. A debt exclusion allows a city to raise money by increasing taxes beyond 2.5% for a certain purpose. It would be the same way the city is paying for the new B.M.C. Durfee High School, where taxpayers receive a tax hike beyond the allowed 2.5% annual tax increase.

But unlike a Proposition 2½ override, the additional cost to taxpayers would only be for the life of the bond.

Coogan wanted citywide vote: City Council votes down mayor's order for election on a debt exclusion to fund new Diman

Cost for a new Diman could rise to $6.5M a year

The news came during last week’s annual joint meeting between the City Council and the Fall River School Committee to discuss the fiscal 2025 budget and other financial issues.

Coogan said that while the first payment of $800,000 is interest only, which is currently covered in the 2025 budget, the administration is predicting that cost will skyrocket to about $6.5 million annually by either 2026 or 2027.

Coogan was a proponent of sending the issue before the voters at the time. He said he doesn’t know why anyone is surprised at the cost.

A few weeks after the council approved the Diman project, Coogan wrote in a letter to the council that he was vetoing its vote of approval, citing a portion of the city charter that says the city cannot take out bonds for more than $5 million without bringing the issue to a citywide vote. Coogan has said he's supported Diman and the building project in general, but wanted to bring the question to a special election.

“This veto reflects my firm belief that the voters should have a voice in how this project proceeds and gets funded,” read Coogan's letter.

The council voted down Coogan's veto.

What happens if voters reject the debt exclusion?

If a debt exclusion question gets on the ballot and voters reject it, future administrations will have to find the money in the general fund, which Coogan said will result in cuts.

“The thing everyone has to remember is, Diman is going to be built. This is a means to fund it,” said Coogan, who had informed the council of his intention to try to put the question on the ballot. “If this means doesn’t work, we’ll have to find other means.”

“I’d just like residents to have a say,” said Coogan.

Council's vote in 2022: Fall River City Council approves plan for $293 million Diman project — here's what comes next

Council's role would be to put Diman question on the ballot

In 2018, about 61% of Fall River voters approved funding the new B.M.C. Durfee High School building through a debt exclusion.

The council voted to approve the project in 2022 without going before voters or waiting to get more concrete financial information, but this vote was not unanimous. At the time, Diman proponents couldn’t say for certain how much each community would be affected financially.

Council President Pam Laliberte, Vice President Michelle Dionne and Andrew Raposo voted no — although they supported a new Diman facility, they worried how the city could afford the project.

“Kids do deserve state-of-the-art schools. We just need a very good understanding of how the city is going to pay for them, whether it’s going to go for a debt exclusion or whether we have it on the operating budget,” said Laliberte at the time.

The councilors who voted in favor were councilors Joseph Camara, Shawn Cadime, Linda Pereira, Brad Kilby and Leo Pelletier.

Coogan said the City Council will make the decision whether to place the debt exclusion question on the ballot. His administration is preparing to send them the request.

The mayor said he still believes the community should've made the decision to build a new Diman and received more concrete financial information.

“It would have given the voters a stake in a vocational school, and it would have — and I know people overuse the word 'transparent,' but it would have been transparent,” said Coogan.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Mayor wants vote on Diman funding; costs set to rise to $6.5M a year