PRINEVILLE — Crook County School District officials are recommending the most expensive of three proposed bond measures, one that would pay for the construction of a new elementary school and fund upgrades on other buildings around the district.

The recommendation drew criticism during an informational meeting Monday from some audience members who said residents cannot afford a tax increase, citing Crook County’s high unemployment and declining population.

John Sundell, chairman of the district’s facilities review committee, countered that school improvements could make Crook County more attractive to prospective employers. The bond measure option that includes funding to replace the aging Ochoco and Crooked River elementary schools — both built before 1945 — will be the most cost effective in the long run, he added.

The district’s board will discuss the bond measure options at its August meeting, but likely won’t pick one to place on the ballot until later, Superintendent Duane Yecha said.

The facilities committee developed three possible bond measures to replace a 1994 measure that paid for Crook County High School and expires in 2014. That $20 million bond cost property owners about $1 per $1,000 in assessed property value, or about $200 a year for the owner of a $200,000 home.

Two of the proposed bond measures would keep taxes essentially the same. Of those, one is a 15.5-year, $20.2 million bond that would renovate all school buildings to last another 15 years.

The other is a 12.5-year, $16 million bond to renovate Ochoco and Crooked River elementary schools to last five more years and renovate the rest to last 15 years. At the end of five years, the two elementary schools would need to be replaced, Sundell said.

The third option, the one recommended by the facilities committee, is a 20.5-year, $30 million bond that would pay for the construction of a new 600-student elementary school to replace the two aging buildings and renovate other district facilities to last 15 years. It would cost property owners approximately $1.20 per $1,000.

Sundell made the case for the third option Monday to about 40 people in the Crook County High School auditorium. It would cost roughly the same amount — $15 million — to replace or renovate and modernize Crooked River and Ochoco elementary schools. And if the district puts off construction for five or 15 years, interest rates and construction costs will likely be higher, he said.

There have been essentially no major repairs to district facilities since the 1994 bond measure, Sundell said.

“Doing nothing would basically be a guarantee that Crook County would never get out of the doldrums,” he said.

The district hasn’t passed a bond measure since 1994 and audience members Monday showed why it might be difficult to pass another.

One woman asked how the district could propose a tax increase when so many homeowners are facing foreclosure. Another asked why the district doesn’t live within its means like she does.

School board member Scott Cooper said he is wary of proposing the most expensive bond measure because voters could reject it and leave the district with no money for facility improvements.

A district-hired architect found $43.5 million in possible repairs around the school district, including roofs, plumbing and fire alarms. To cut the total cost, the facilities committee eliminated things like new fire sprinklers, new windows and seismic retrofitting from the three proposals.