Are you surprised voters said yes to the school bonds Tuesday? I am not.
The Fort Mill Times reported:
Schools bonds approved in landslide… Slightly more than one-fifth (22 percent) of the 24,290 registered voters in the school district took part, casting a total of 5,150 ballots, according to election officials.
Last Tuesday phone calls and emails hit our house. The calls were from volunteers frantically calling registered voters and urging us to vote because of the low voter turnout. The second concern I heard was about voter age. Are the voters mainly senior citizens? Would this age group primarily vote no for the bonds since they are empty nesters?
To refresh your memory there were two bond referendums or questions on the ballot. One bond is for building a middle school, 2 elementary schools, and acquiring land for future school sites. The cost of bond 1 is $87 million. The second bond will build additional gyms at both high schools, and the completion of the stadium at Nation Ford High School. The first question passed with 4,155 yes votes. The second question passed with 3,880 yes votes.
This is good news in regards to supporting the healthy growth in our area. This is bad news for your pocket book. Oh, the price of progress.
If it is a bond program don?t we get an opportunity to buy the bonds? Why is this a reflection on our taxes?
You have to pay off the debt at some point. Here is the estimated impact on your taxes as reported by the Keep our Schools Strong Committee:
The school board?s goal is to keep costs to fellow taxpayers as low as possible while maintaining strong schools. Impacts to local taxpayers will depend on the tax valuation of their homes. The following estimate shows the averaged cost over a 25-year pay-off schedule to retire debt service for bonds:
QUESTION 1
$100,000 home: $4 a month or $50 a year
$200,000 home: $8 a month or $100 a year
$300,000 home: $12.50 a month or $150 a year
QUESTION 2
$100,000 home: $0.40 a month or $5 a year
$200,000 home: $0.80 a month or $10 a year
$300,000 home: $1.25 a month or $15 a year