The nays have this one by a wide margin.
Voters on Tuesday by a wide margin said “no” on their ballots during the March Special Election, a countywide decision declining a special 1 mill added to property taxes to pay for a bond sale the Polk School District wanted to complete for $34 million to complete school improvements and expansions.
The ballot referendum would have added the mill to property taxes for upward of 20 years to pay back potential bonds, utilizing the same system of bond sales they have over a decade to pay for upgrades as campuses across the district via Education-only Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax ballot measures.
The tally from Tuesday’s vote ended with 328 ballots cast in favor of the referendum for the special millage rate, and 3,693 ballots cast against it.
Some 4,034 ballots were cast in total for the March 18 special election completed on Tuesday, just under 15% turnout of the more than 27,000 registered voters in Polk County.
Interim Superintendent Mark Lumpkin was sought for comment on Tuesday night as results were coming in, but none was provided at the time of writing heading into the midnight hour on Wednesday, March 19.
PSD sought the cash for several projects across the district, which would have included a new entrance into Westside Elementary and Cedartown High School to be completed, and a new cafeteria to be added to Eastside Elementary among others.
The millage rate – previously lowered below 14 mills for two years during the pandemic – was increased to allow the district to continue receiving state grant money which wouldn’t be available if the Board of Education kept that rate lower than the 14 mills.
Paying for those proposed projects outside of E-SPLOST funding would require the board to increase the millage rate above the 14 mills to pay for it, along with cuts to personnel based on previous material shared by the district on social media.
ESPLOST was extended through the decade back during a 2021 special election vote, seeing a small turnout push through the penny collection to pay for bonds already sold until 2031.
Board members voted in January to approve seeking the referendum for the specific 1 mill on property taxes for the 20 years for the March special election day in Georgia.
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