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Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Bibb voters say yes to school sales tax proposal

Some Bibb County teachers’ prayers were answered Tuesday.

Bibb County voters approved the collection of an extra penny of sales tax on the dollar that would raise up to $198.5 million to build five new elementary schools and fund a number of other school upgrades across the county.

The vote was 4,400 to 2,640, with about 9 percent of Bibb County voters casting a ballot, according to election officials.

“There were a lot of prayers going out,” Heard Elementary School principal Sandra Stanley said earlier Tuesday. All 45 of her teachers voted in favor of the 1-cent sales tax, she said, since rebuilding that school was one of the proposed projects.

Parts of Heard date to 1917, with additions built in 1933, 1948, 1954 and the most recent gymnasium built in 1990.

Tuesday’s vote means no more leaky roof and, in time, students learning in a modern facility, Stanley said.

“We will have a high performance school and a lot of new technology,” she added. “Right now we’re really hurting in that area.”

As a result of Tuesday’s vote, shoppers in Bibb County will continue to pay 6 cents on the dollar in sales tax starting in January 2011 through the end of 2015 — or until the $198.5 million has been collected. The school system plans to spend about $176 million on about 30 school projects. The difference allows for such factors as cost overruns.