School bond request rejected

Taxpayers in the Fair-Mont-Egan School District overwhelmingly rejected a $1.9 million bond request Tuesday.

Three hundred twenty-five voters vetoed the bond issue; 155 voted in its favor. About 67 percent of the district’s 720 active voters returned their ballots.

Had the bond issue passed, the district would have built a new gymnasium, at least two new classrooms and administrative offices to connect the school’s two buildings. The library and computer lab would have been expanded, tutoring rooms would have been added for special education and Title I students, and a band and music room would have been built.

The bond issue would have raised annual property taxes by $92 on a home with a $100,000 taxable value. Property taxes on a home with a $200,000 taxable value would have increased by about $184 a year.

Many voters before the election expressed frustration about possibly shouldering the tax burden for out-of-district families who send their children to Fair-Mont-Egan. About 38 percent of children at the school do not live in the district.

School officials had hoped voters would be swayed by a federal grant that would have provided zero to very low interest on the bonds.