During the coming summer, residents of the Magnolia School District will be preparing to decide on an important issue.
Magnolia Superintendent John Ward told those attending the Magnolia Board of Education’s meeting last week that the board would in June propose a millage increase of 3.4 mills. As reported in the Banner-News, the increase would place an additional $3.40 of tax would for every $1,000 in assessed value of taxable property.
The increase, if passed, will be used for school projects and improvements, including the construction of a ninth grade academy and performing arts building at the Magnolia High School campus, extra support space for the Central Elementary School campus, and a pick-up and drop-off area at East Side Elementary. General maintenance and renovations for existing school facilities would also be performed, including installing new roofs and air conditioning units on all Magnolia campuses and parking lot resurfacing throughout the school district. It was reported that a full project list will soon be released to the public.
We encourage district residents to become informed as possible about this proposal. Board President Mike said during last week’s meeting that the board intends to be as transparent and informative and possible on the millage issue. He said he welcomes questions from the public, and board members will be visiting with and taking questions from as many citizens and groups as possible during the summer.
We encourage residents to attend gatherings and events when the board discusses this issue.
As with any taxation increase issue, we are fairly certain there will be those who oppose the increase.
The Banner-News will publish as much information as we can obtain from both sides of the issue, including dates and locations of events as they are planned to discuss the upcoming milleage election.
We encourage readers to look for our coming coverage of the millage proposal and to become as informed as possible about it.