Voters approve E-SPLOST for Bibb schools

Bibb County voters overwhelmingly approved a proposed education sales tax initiative Tuesday.

The measure passed with 75 percent of voters saying yes.

Out of 33 precincts, the final tally to extend the E-SPLOST was 4,685 yes votes to 1,566 no.

"We are very pleased that today, our community signaled strong support for our local schools by voting to continue our investment in education," said Leonard Bevill, CEO of Macon Occupational Medicine and co-chair of a sales tax booster group. "I want to thank those who turned out to vote today and our committee members who made this important victory possible."

The extra penny of sales tax on the dollar is projected to earn about $180 million that will go to a wish list of projects across the Bibb County school district.

School Superintendent Curtis Jones said he was excited about the upgrades that the new funding will mean for Bibb's schools -- and students.

"This shows that the community is really dedicated to education," he said, adding that the school district has been trying hard to be a partner with the community. "It shows support for what we're doing."

Some of the items on Bibb's capital projects list include: upgrading both Northeast High and Appling Middle School by providing a common campus arrangement; classroom additions at existing elementary schools to accommodate student population; building an auditorium at Rutland and Westside high; renovations such as new floor coverings, paint, ceilings and roof replacement at older locations; bus maintenance and replacement; and continued upgrades to district technology.

"It's time we had 21st century classrooms," Jones said.

And those technology upgrades, which are top priority, are going to involve installing cameras, audio enhancement (a wireless microphone and speakers) and interactive white boards in all Bibb classrooms.

This will be the fourth education sales tax passed since 2000. The past three have brought in almost $500 million in funding, which has helped build more than 20 new schools and funded scores of renovations, facility improvements and other additions.

The 2010-2015 sales tax initiative, which voters passed in November 2009, is expected to generate a total of about $159 million before it expires at the end of this year.

"This is just a great victory for us," Jones said.

To contact writer David Schick, call 744-4832 or find him on Twitter@davidcschick.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 10:37 PM with the headline "Voters approve E-SPLOST for Bibb schools ."