As reported in the Cumberland Times-News, education and local government officials are still reeling from Wednesday’s disclosure of a $25 million shortfall in the construction budget for a new Allegany High School on Haystack Mountain.

As described in the article, contractor estimates of the construction were significantly higher than the architect’s estimates, especially once add-ons including auditoriums and sports fields were included.

Allegany County Commissioner Bill Valentine, the Vice-Chair of MACo’s Education Subcommittee, asked,

“My question is, does this (group of estimates) even include furnishings?” said Bill Valentine, president of the Allegany County Commission.

Valentine said furnishings as well as contractor change orders would likely raise the cost even more.

Architectural and engineering costs, and the costs of all furnishings are the full responsibility of county governments because they fall outside of the current definition of costs eligible for partial State funding.

For more information, see the full article from the Cumberland Times-News.

For more information about school construction costs, see our previous post, The Actual State Share of School Construction Costs.