Unemployment may be down, but the cost of building is up.

In November of 2014, voters in the Lexington Two School District passed a $225 million bond referendum to build new schools.

Since then, things have changed.

“(B)udgets were set nearly five years ago,” said Dawn Kujawa, Lexington Two communications director.

She said 2014 was right at the tail end of a recession.

Much has changed in the economy, including the cost of school construction. She said 2014 construction costs averaged around $140 a square foot.

Today, that cost is about $215 a square foot, Kujawa said.

“In the interest of fairness to all Lexington Two school construction projects over the five-year period, the (Lexington Two School) board recently approved an additional $2 million each for two of the last projects, set for completion in 2019.”

The budget increases address some of the rising costs of construction.

Those projects are at Brookland-Cayce High School and Fulmer Middle School. Kujawa said the funds came from interest on bond proceeds.

“Also, related to the arena that’s part of the Brookland-Cayce High projects,” Kujawa said, “there was an unexpected sale of land that allowed the district to acquire property to better place the arena, rather than try to position it on existing property that wasn’t large enough.”

Kujawa said the bond money has been well-managed, and used competently.

“Two things have been among the primary focuses throughout this $225 million construction project. First, we’ve made a conscious effort to give all our schools what was allotted to them in the original 2014 budget -- in most cases, they got more,” Kujawa said.

“We were able to do that through good fiscal management of funds. Second, we have focused on fiscal accountability to the taxpayers who made these projects possible. We have built in several ways to ensure we are spending efficiently and keeping the public informed.”

Kujawa also said a monthly construction update is posted on the district’s website www.lex2.org .