WESTWOOD —
Opponents of a 3 percent utilities tax in the Fairview school district have delivered enough petition signatures to put the issue to voters, Boyd County Clerk Debbie Jones said Monday.
A committee gathering the signatures delivered 395 of them Monday morning and deputy clerks had verified 366 by the end of the day, according to Jones.
That is more than twice as many as needed to put the tax on the ballot, she said.
Jones said she will schedule the election for Feb. 19. State law requires the election to be at least 35 days, but not more than 45 days after the signatures are verified.
The single-issue election will cost between $6,000 and $7,000, and the district will have to pay the cost, she said.
To qualify for an election, the petitions had to have at least 10 percent of the number of voters from the district who cast ballots in the most recent presidential election. That comes to 147 signatures.
The school board, which enacted the tax in December, can either go ahead with the election or rescind the levy. Reached Monday afternoon, board member Jeff Preston said it is too early to say what the board will do.
“I’m sure we will take a strong economic look at the cost of an election,” he said.
Preston said the board’s top priority for money raised under the levy would be building a new high school. The tax would cost the average resident $150 annually and would bring in between $300,000 and $700,000 per year, according to officials.
Preston said opponents have circulated “a lot of misinformation” about the levy. Chief among his complaints is the claim that the 3 percent tax is actually a 21 percent tax because it would be levied on seven utilities.
The tax bill would be 3 percent of the combined sum of utility bills — gas, telephone, cell phone, water, electric, cable and dish TV.
“It’s no different from when you go shopping and pay 6 percent on your total purchases, not 18 percent because you went to three different stores.”
With the tax the district would be able to borrow enough to build a $20 million school, he said. “There’s nothing else we could spend it on if we obligated ourselves to build a new school,” he said.
People in Westwood can’t afford the tax, said Melvin “Joe” Weis, a member of the petition committee. “(Petition gatherers) were all saddened by what we saw, people in dire straits, people who find it hard to put food on the table, much less pay more taxes,” he said.
The committee took three days to gather the signatures, he said. “People were well-informed and expecting us when we came ... I think people are very firmly against the proposition to raise their taxes.”
Fairview passed the same levy in 2005 and 2007 and both times voters shot it down. The district is one of 13 in the state that don’t have a utility tax. Many districts that do have the tax, including Russell and Ashland, enacted them in the late 1970s when voters didn’t have the recall option.
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or
(606) 326-2652.
Local News
Fairview tax to go on ballot
- Local News
-
-
West Virginia man arrested for bank robbery
A West Virginia man has been arrested and charged with the robbery at the PNC Bank here on Tuesday afternoon.
- Secretary of Education coming to Louisville
-
New laws go into effect next week
New laws approved during the Kentucky General Assembly’s 2013 regular session go into effect on Tuesday.
-
Local in brief: 6/19/13
Southland Bible Institute’s training for high school students continues through Friday at the school at 238 W. Southland Drive.
-
Saturday's Flatwoods Music Festival will include tributes to Mike Murphy
The songs of Mike Murphy and Zachariah will be remembered and performed Saturday amid an afternoon and evening of free music at the annual Flatwoods Music Festival.
-
Local WinShape camp gaining steam
The WinShape Camps for Communities at Bridges Christian Church the first week of July are starting to draw considerable buzz.
-
Camp Invention full of science-based discovery
The formula for inventing a new machine, according to 9-year-old Hayden Wheeler, goes something like this: “First, I run it through my mind and plan it out, and then I make adjustments in my mind, and then I try it out.”
-
Boyd staying with same health plan
Boyd County officials heard pitches Tuesday for two new health care plans — one for employees, the other for inmates. Both claimed they could save taxpayers thousands of dollars in medical expenses over the coming year.
-
Sentencing in Carter drug trafficking case
Five people were sentenced to prison terms last week in a federal drug-trafficking case that involved selling cocaine and pills in Carter County, according to court documents.
-
19-year-old launching one-man food drive, ‘Cans for a Cause’
Never accuse Aaron Hannah of not being ambitious and failing to set high goals for himself.
Later this month, Hannah, a 19-year-old 2012 graduate of Raceland-Worthington High School, will launch what is essentially a one-man food drive. His goal: to collect at least 10,000 pounds of canned food for River Cities Harvest to distribute to local nonprofits and churches that help feed the hungry.
Hannah, who just completed his freshman year as a Bonner Scholar at Berea College, said scholars are encouraged, but not required, to do community projects designed to help the needy. - More Local News Headlines
-
West Virginia man arrested for bank robbery
Obama Renews Call for Nuclear Reductions
Raw: Car Jumps Curb in NYC, Injures 8
Obama: 'Lives Have Been Saved' by NSA Programs
Obama: Friction in Afghan Talks No Surprise
Unusual Heat Wave Bakes Alaska
Raw: Massive Protests Fill Brazilian Streets
Raw: German President Welcomes President Obama
Fans Cheer Dramatic Heat Comeback
Raw: Arizona Wildfire Scorches 8 Square Miles
Hoffa Mystery Still Fascinates After 4 Decades
Raw: 1 Dead in Shooting at Mo. Apartment Complex
Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park
3 Charged in Ohio With Enslaving Mom, Daughter
Kid Couture: Spending Big Bucks on Babies
