WESTWOOD —
Faced with a probable drubbing at the polls, the Fairview Board of Education has signaled it will kill the 3 percent utility tax it enacted last month.
Fairview Superintendent Bill Musick sent a notice to that effect to Boyd County Clerk Debbie Jones Tuesday.
The one-paragraph notice announces the board’s intention to rescind the tax at its Jan. 28 meeting.
“I think it is very wise of the board to make that decision,” said Melvin “Joe” Weis, an opponent of the tax. Weis was on the five-member committee that in three days gathered 366 valid signatures — more than twice as many as necessary — on petitions to put the tax on the ballot.
“This community was definitely going to vote against it,” Weis said.
The tax would have been assessed on water, sewer, electric, gas, telephone, cell phone, cable and satellite and according to estimates would have brought between $300,000 and $700,000 into district coffers each year.
The district had hoped to use the tax proceeds, along with state funding and borrowed money, to build a new high school.
Musick said board members have told him they will rescind the tax. “They respect the wishes of the community and they don’t want to spend the money for an election,” he said.
The district would have to pay for the special election, which Jones has estimated would cost between $6,000 and $7,000.
Musick said the board acted in the best interest of the district’s children but that taxes “are a touchy subject.”
“The board is trying to do what’s best for children. They weren’t asking for any more than anyone else has. We just want to be on an even keel with everyone else.”
Fairview is one of 13 in the state that don’t already levy the tax.
Killing the tax puts a crimp in long-range plans for replacement or complete renovation of the high school or for construction of a vocational school, but doesn’t cripple the district, Musick said. “We’re not in a panic mode. We have money in the bank. We are financially solid ... our test scores and graduation rates speak for themselves.”
The petition drive and its result were more a disappointment than a surprise, according to Musick. Voters turned away the same levy in 2005 and 2007, but Musick and the board had hoped minds would change over time, he said.
He had hoped the opening of Boyd County’s new $42 million high school, built mostly with state money after voters in that district approved a tax increase, would make an impression.
“We would love to see new buildings but it has to be weighed against what the community can afford,” Weis said.
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.
Local News
Fairview board to drop tax
- Local News
-
-
Autism program is reason for graduate’s progress
The old clipping from 2001 is somewhere ... tucked into a drawer, in a stack on top of the cabinet or boxed up in the back of the closet.
-
Helping in the neighborhood
The modest ranch house in the middle of the 2100 block of Sellars Street looked a lot different at 11 a.m. Saturday than it did three hours earlier.
-
Beautification project cleans up Ashland
Many of the volunteers who spent their Saturday morning picking up trash downtown don’t even live in Ashland.
-
News in brief, 05/19/13
Molly McBride, 21, of Morehead and a sophomore at Morehead State University, was killed early Saturday in a two-vehicle crash on the Bluegrass Parkway near Bardstown in Nelson County.
-
Do you win the Powerball jackpot?
The winning numbers for the largest multistate Powerball jackpot are: 22, 10,13,14, 52 and the Powerball number is 11.
-
Morehead State student killed in crash
Molly McBride, 21, of Morehead and a sophomore at Morehead State University, was killed early Saturday in a two-vehicle crash on the Bluegrass Parkway near Bardstown in Nelson County, The Morehead News reported..
-
Wurtland parents angry over principal's demotion
A number of parents are hopping mad that Wurtland Elementary School principal Barbara Cook has been demoted and plan to confront the school board about it Monday.
-
Meth busts in Westwood, Ashland
One man was taken into custody Friday in Ashland by deputies with the Boyd County Sheriff’s Department Drug Task Force, and felony charges are pending against another.
-
Womack eliminated in semifinals
Top-seeded Kennedy Womack was eliminated in the semifinals of the State Tournament on Saturday at the University of Kentucky tennis courts.
-
Guitar builder Paul Reed Smith to visit Ashland
Paul Reed Smith isn’t a rock star, although he does have legions of fans who revere his contributions to live and recorded performances worldwide and his name or initials grace the headstocks of guitars used by some of the most recognized names in rock, jazz and country music.
The legendary luthier from Maryland will visit Ashland’s 4 O’Clock Rock Guitar Shop on Wednesday to inspect their collection of his instruments. Store owner Dave McCoy said he was almost immediately overwhelmed with responses after announcing Smith will be at the shop at 2328 Greenup Ave., to meet fans and sign autographs starting at 6 p.m. A crowd is expected to be there, McCoy confirmed Friday afternoon, reporting he expects PRS owners, collectors and fans alike to be in the crowd awaiting Smith’s appearance. - More Local News Headlines
-
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
