CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When the state School Building Authority meets Monday, they’ll consider an old way of doing things. When the authority first starting handing out millions of dollars in funding for new school construction and renovation more than two decades ago, counties would come to the SBA at the end of the year. The funding cycle was eventually changed to April.
New SBA Executive Director Dr. David Sneed said he will propose switching things back to the way it used to be.
“In April, we wouldn’t fund projects this year as we normally would. We would wait until December,” explained the executive director.
There’s a good reason for that according to Sneed. It comes down to money.
“It has been determined that it’s actually cheaper, our bids are lower, if we bid projects before June the first,” he said.
That has to do with the construction season and the cost of materials and manpower. Currently there’s more than $2 billion in school construction needs across the state. During this year’s funding cycle, the SBA had $43 million to hand out. That went to seven counties. It’s proof, according to Sneed, that every dollar counts.
“Our funding amount hasn’t increased. Construction inflation is always increasing. So we’re trying to do everything we can to construct building as economically as we can,” stressed Sneed.
He said every dollar counts and they want to make the most of their money. The SBA meets Monday at 9:30 a.m. at the state Culture Center.