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Public raises questions about 0.5¢ sales tax and whether it can fund athletic facilities
Summary
A local resident asked the board to clarify a fact sheet saying it was 'fiction' that the proposed 0.5¢ sales tax could fund athletic facilities; the superintendent and board members said the surtax funds capital outlay including facility upgrades but that turfing a field was not funded by the surtax in the instance raised.
During public comment, Dan Simmons (speaker 6) pressed the board for clarity about a district fact sheet that described as "fiction" claims that sales-tax proceeds could be used for athletic facilities. Simmons asked where a voter could find definitive documentation and whether the claim on the flyer was accurate.
The superintendent (speaker 12) responded to the board and the public to correct a circulating claim about turfing a field: "That is 100% false," he said about the assertion that the 0.5¢ sales tax would be used to turf the football field, adding that the turfing request had been pursued via a separate state appropriations request and not as part of the discretionary surtax. He described the 0.5¢ surtax as a capital outlay source that can fund facility upgrades such as roofing, HVAC, classroom renovations, resurfacing and transportation improvements, and emphasized that the district will form a seven-member citizen oversight committee to review expenditures if the surtax is approved.
Board members agreed that the language on public materials left room for interpretation and urged staff to provide clearer documentation so voters know what specifically they are approving in November. Several trustees said they want clear, itemized language about eligible projects and promised to provide additional detail to the public before the vote.
