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Monday is deadline to register for millage election |
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Monday, 11 February 2008 |
Monday is the last day for residents within the Benton School District boundaries to register to vote in time for an upcoming millage election.
Early voting for the special election begins Tuesday, March 4. Election day is Tuesday, March 11.
Voters will decide whether to approve an additional 6.5 mills that would generate $28.6 million to be used for physical improvements to school facilities and at the same time allow the district to obtain an additional estimated $10 million from the state.
Dr. Tony Prothro, superintendent, presented the district’s millage proposal at a Benton Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday. He said the state money will not be available after 2009 and is allocated only to school districts that approve additional mills for facilities improvement.
He also told chamber members that only about 14 percent of the people with children enrolled in Benton schools voted in last year’s millage election. The measure was defeated.
“I received phone calls and people were shocked the millage didn’t pass,” Prothro said.
The focus of this go-around, he said, is to get people out there to vote.
According to the Saline County Clerk’s office, there are more than 16,600 registered voters living in the district. In last year’s election, 1,315 voted for the millage increase and 1,617 voted against it.
Darlene Westbrook, an employee in the clerk’s office, said the number of registered voters is expected to increase because the clerk’s office has received many voter registration applications in the past month.
Early voters may cast their ballots at the county voting center on Main Street across from the courthouse. On election day, polling sites will include Calvary Baptist Church, Highland Heights Baptist Church, Johnson Street Church of Christ, First Baptist Church Family Life Center and Ten Mile Baptist Church.
Prothro said approval of this millage is key to making necessary upgrades to district facilities.
“We have adequate facilities. We want suitable facilities,” he said. “Now, we have something to get by. We want something to be proud of.”
The millage increase would raise the district’s tax rate from 35.4 mills to 41.9 mills.
Stephens Inc. has been retained as fiscal agent for the sale and issuance of the bonds that would finance the physical improvements to school facilities.
The additional millage will make proposed renovations to Benton High School a reality. Improvements to the junior high and adding facilities to the existing elementary schools also are priorities.
Prothro pointed out several things that Benton taxpayers can be proud of in the school district, such as earning the No. 2 spot in the statewide Quiz Bowl, good scores on standardized tests and providing tuition-free college courses in core content areas.
The district’s emphasis is on improving academics, Prothro said. Proposals include a distance learning lab, enhancing liberal arts and foreign language programs, and enhancing classroom technology and physical education opportunities at the elementary level.
Improvements to athletic programs is low on the priority list, Prothro said. He noted that district athletics operate on game ticket sales.
One athletic improvement that, hopefully, could be met is the completion of a girls softball field, Prothro said. The district is required by law to provide the girls softball program with facilities equal to those it provides for the boys baseball program.
Prothro said a lawsuit against the district concerning the softball field is not a matter of “if and when” but “when.”
The priority list was made following a recent survey of area residents, who indicated that most favor improvements to academic facilities.
If the millage is approved, the state match will be more than 43 percent, Prothro said, adding that more than $30 million is planned for construction.
In a meeting of community business leaders on Friday, state Rep. Lamont Cornwell, D-Benton, alluded to the idea that school improvements and economic development go hand in hand. He, along with more than 60 others, were participating in roundtable discussions at the Mayor’s Business Summit to identify areas in which Benton could improve.
Cornwell said the state matching funds will go away if the millage isn’t approved.
He added: “If the school goes down, the community will, too.” |
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Razorbacks