Leaders discuss paying for new Pope School

JACKSON, Tenn. — Madison County Commission leaders met to discuss several topics, including the new Pope School and how it will ultimately be paid for.

“We gave an update on the bond issuance for the new Pope School. $36 million debt issuance. The sell of those bonds came in on March 29. We had 11 bids that came in at 3.01%, which is lower than what it was pre-COVID,” said Madison County Finance Director Karen Bell.

Bell talked about where the the rest of the funding for the building project will originate.

“We are looking to put in another $12.48 million, and we again, we anticipate that will come from our ARPA funds. Some that we already have from the first trunch. The total that Madison County is to receive on that is $19.2 million. We received nine and half million last year. So we’ll use some of those, and hopefully, the additional will come from the second trunch of the ARPA funds,” Bell said.

She says the next steps are already being taken for the construction of the new school.

“An A&E has already been hired. Dr. King and his staff are working with them to do the design study, the traffic study, to do all the preliminary work that needs to be done. Hopefully, groundbreaking before and moving forward to get the new Pope School built,” Bell said.

While the county now owes $102 million, Bell says it has been smart with its finances.

“Madison County has done a really good job of issuing no more than 20 year debt. We aggressively pay 12 and a half to $13 million year,” Bell said.

In another issue discussed, Madison County Sheriff John Mehr says the new jail is coming together and the correctional officers are getting trained.

“We want them well trained before they go in. There is going to be some trials and errors, but it’s a totally whole new operation. So it’s very important that they learn and understand,” Mehr said.

Mehr also says the new jail should be operational in the summer.

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