Voters approved an $11.4 million addition to Trevor School Tuesday by a 13-vote margin.

The unofficial vote was 231-219.

The district hopes to take advantage of a no-interest stimulus-backed financing program to help offset construction costs of adding enough space to bring all students in the Trevor-Wilmot Consoldiated School District under one roof.

“It is beneficial to get the entire district on one campus,” School Board president Tom Steiner said Tuesday night. “We have a lot of work ahead of us now. In the long run it will help us with our operational costs.”

The building plan calls for the addition of 10 primary classrooms, two special education classrooms, a new gymnasium, an art room, a music room, a cafeteria, a new library and two computer labs.

The project also provides additional parking and new offices, enabling the existing offices to be remodeled into classrooms.

Steiner described the bond opportunity available to the district as a “cash for clunkers” program for old school buildings.

Wilmot Primary Center, which will be leased or sold after the schools combine at the Trevor site, is expensive to maintain and qualifies as a “clunker,” he said.

The modular classrooms being used at the site also will be sold.

The district will submit its application for the Qualified School Construction Bond program immediately. If approved the district will get a zero percent interest rate on a portion of the debt.

Administrator George Steffen said “shovel ready” school building plans are looked upon favorably for this program.

Steffen said the measure will affect taxes in 2010 and will take 20 years to pay off. The district’s existing bonds will be paid off in 2014, which will ease the tax burden.

If the district is successful in obtaining the bonds, the estimated maximum tax increase for the owner of a $100,000 home will be $113. With traditional bond financing, the estimated maximum increase for the owner of a $100,000 home is $158.