Vigo County Schools Thank Voters

67930412_109219287098107_7869987868624551936_n

VIGO COUNTY, Ind.  – Vigo County voters have voted to approve a referendum that calls for a $7 million annual property tax increase to support the Vigo County School Corporation.

The vote was 12.773 or 54% voting yes while 8,729 or 46% voting no.

With the win the School Corporation will only have to make $4 million in budget cuts, instead of $8 million.

Superintendent Rob Haworth pointed out that the property tax increase will not start until 2020.

 

Haworth called the tax increase a “bridge” to allow time to make adjustments and put Vigo County Schools on a more solid financial footing.

The higher tax will last for eight-years.

The school corporation says it plans to use $1.4 million a year to pay for school resource officers, $300,000 per year for behavior interventionists or guidance counselors, $3 million for teacher compensation, $260,000 for school nurses, and $1 million for transportation.

The VCSC issued a statement thanking residents for passing the referendum. That statement is below.

 

 

STATEMENT ON TUESDAY NIGHT’S REFERENDUM VOTE

VIGO COUNTY SCHOOL CORPORATION THANKS COMMUNITY FOR INPUT, INVESTMENT

 

The Vigo County School Corporation thanks the community for their investment in the safety, security, and health of our students and staff. Our funding isn’t keeping up with inflation, and with declining enrollment, this vote was vital to the financial health of our schools.

Over the course of over 50 meetings, we listened to our community’s priorities. Tuesday’s vote on the referendum means that we can continue our recent investments in safety, security, and health. It also means that we can dedicate $3 million per year to making our teacher compensation more competitive with area districts. Our transportation budget is also impacted by tax caps each year, and $1 million of this referendum will help offset those losses.

This referendum is a bridge to our future, and we will continue to seek community input as we make spending cuts to adjust our budget to declining enrollment. We are still moving forward with millions of dollars of spending cuts and revenue enhancement to adapt to our current funding. This referendum allows us to make those decisions in a reasonable time frame and seek community input along the way.

We look forward to continuing this conversation with our community. Ultimately, we believe that a strong school system can help spark growth in Vigo County.