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School tax on ballot Saturday
Voters across Franklin Parish will go to the polls this Saturday to consider renewal of a property tax to benefit Franklin Parish Schools.
Assistant Supt. Wiley McClary said the renewal was critical to the operations at Franklin Parish Schools and was used to pay for maintenance on buildings, utility bills, school bus expenses and even textbooks.
"It can be used for a lot of things," McClary said. "The schools could not operate without this tax."
McClary noted the 4.45-mil tax is strictly a renewal and does not ask for any new money.
"It's a maintenance renewal," McClary said. "It's a tax that has been on the books since before 1940."
Franklin Parish Tax Assessor J. W. Dean said the tax generates some $240,000 for the school system. Dean added the tax is unchanged from previous years.
"The only thing different than any other renewal they've done is that this is for 10 years where other renewals have only been for 5 years," Dean said.
McClary said board officials opted to move for a 10-year renewal because of the number of small taxes that come up for renewal each year. By moving to a 10-year schedule, McClary said the board hoped to cut down on the number of tax propositions they placed on the ballot.
"We're not asking for any more than we've ever asked for," McClary said. "Nobody will realize any difference in their taxes because of this tax."
McClary expressed confidence voters would renew the tax.
"We typically have had good luck passing renewals," McClary said. "Most taxes the general public balks at are new taxes."
So far, interest in the Saturday election has been "about average," according to Franklin Registrar of Voters Geneva Cupp.
Cupp's office spent last week fielding requests for absentee ballots and early voters.
Cupp said 129 people cast early ballots last week. Also, she said 54 people cast mail-in ballots as well.
"It's about average for a tax election," Cupp said. "There's never much turnout in a tax election." |
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