Vote on Bridgehampton School Expansion

Bridgehampton is the only local school not to have undertaken major capital improvements since it was built.

Dec. 8, 2016

Christine Sampson

Voters in the Bridgehampton School District will head to the polls on Tuesday to decide the fate of the district’s $24.7 million bond project, which would finance a major school expansion and renovation.

School officials have released preliminary sketches showing a 35,440-square-foot addition to the back of the existing building, which was built in the 1930s. Bridgehampton is the only local school not to have undertaken major capital improvements since it was built.

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On the table is a $24.7 million bond spanning 20 years that would come with an anticipated interest rate of about 3.5 percent. For a house valued at $1 million, that would mean an additional $241 per year in school taxes, or $4,820 over the life of the bond. School officials have called the 3.5-percent interest rate a “very conservative,” “worst-case scenario,” and predicted it would end up being lower. They also pointed out that should Southampton Town’s assessed property values increase, as has happened for the last few years, Bridgehampton residents would eventually see the bond’s tax impact decrease.

Voting is at the Bridgehampton School between 2 and 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Those who voted in Bridgehampton’s school budget vote in May, or on Election Day in Bridgehampton last month, are eligible to vote on the referendum, provided they have not registered to vote elsewhere in the meantime. Absentee ballots, which were available beginning Nov. 1 and may be picked up in person at the school through Monday at 4 p.m., are due back to the district clerk’s office by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

The proposition has not been without controversy. Despite the school’s informational mailings, two public forums, open tours, and monthly school board meetings — which were not well attended by members of the public — some community members have claimed that school officials rushed the process and were trying to push the vote through during a time when many residents are away for the winter.

In October, Jeff Mansfield, a school board member, said, “This is a big step for this district and, in my mind, long overdue . . . I feel very comfortable in bringing this proposed project to a vote and letting the people decide. That’s the way of our country, and the people will decide if they think this is a good idea.”