Bond referendum up for vote

By: Shireese Bell/Morning News | SCNow
Published: November 05, 2007

Florence School District 1’s vote on the $125 million bond referendum aimed at improving school facilities is only a day away.

Voters will decide Tuesday whether to pass or reject the bond referendum that could help the district address facility and grade configuration concerns.

The passage of the bond referendum could help the district reduce the number of portable classrooms and the class size, upgrade outdated facilities, and meet the demands of growth in the district, particularly the western part of Florence.

The referendum also is aimed at moving to a standard grade level configuration for middle school students, meaning sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students would attend the same school.

Florence 1 spends about $1 million in portable or mobile classrooms, school district officials said. The district has 172 mobile classrooms. Twelve doublewide mobiles count as 24 classrooms and there are 148 singlewides.

Passage of the bond referendum would allow the district to build a new elementary school to alleviate overcrowded conditions at Carver and Delmae Heights elementary schools; a new Delmae Heights; a new elementary school on U.S. 327 to replace Wallace-Gregg and Henry Timrod elementary schools; a new Royall Elementary School; a new North Vista Elementary School; a new Southside Middle School; an additional new middle school; and renovations to Williams Middle School.

The bond referendum would last 30 years and would be paid with debt service mills only and not with school operating costs.

The referendum would call for an increase of 4.5 debt service mills, bringing the total debt service mills to 23.50 mills.

A property owner with an assessed value of $100,000 currently pays $76 in taxes on debt service mills. If the referendum passes, that home owner would pay $94 a year, an increase of $18.

For commercial property with an assessed value of $100,000, the owner currently pays $114, but would pay $141 should the referendum pass.

Taxes for school operating costs were eliminated after the General Assembly passed the property tax relief law, which provides some relief for owner-occupied homes. A 1-cent sales tax is used in place of the property tax. School districts continue to receive property taxes on second homes, businesses and industry, and personal property.

A $2,754,000 general obligation bond would be used to pay contracts and purchase land to build the three schools proposed in the district’s $125 million referendum.

Voting begins at 7 a.m. and ends 7 p.m.

Bond referendum up for vote

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