Bath County School officials are again attempting to pass a nickel tax to acquire funding for much needed renovations. November marked the third year voters have rejected the tax which is specifically for renovation, new construction, and bond payment.
Officials said the county needs over $65 million for renovation and repair of a district facility. The county also needs $35 million for construction on the Bath County Middle School.
Steven Evans, Bath County Superintendent, said many voters at the general election weren’t aware of what they were voting on. According to him, the nickel tax may go to a special election in December or January. Evans said he is more optimistic this time around.
“When you do a special election, the tax rate is the only thing that's going to be on the ballot, and so we are strongly promoting in the community. On that Tuesday, the only people that are going to go to the polls are those that are for or against, and they'll be informed; but we strongly believe that we can bring more people to the polls that day than they can,” said Evans
Evans said every year the facility issues grow more expensive to fix. If the nickel tax passes, the district will be eligible for gap funding and will receive nearly $609,000 every year for the next 20 years, totaling $12 million at no additional cost to taxpayers. The nickel tax would be set at a rate of approximately 60 cents per $100,000 of assessed home value if passed.
Evans said the nickel tax only gets more expensive when it’s delayed year after year.
“By this time next year when they take the tax again the rate that they will assess will be higher than all three of the nickels that we asked for and so the taxpayers are paying the nickel rate but the district is not getting $15 million in bonding, $13 million in equalization through the nickel and we're not being able to meet our facility needs,” said Evans
Officials said the district’s top priority is building the new middle school. The district also requires a new bus garage, parking lot repairs, awnings for its elementary school, and fields for its sports teams. Evans says that some of these buildings are simply at the end of their life, and without the nickel, they could be condemned.