Bond vote Tuesday

Next Tuesday, May 7, is set for a vote on a proposed $8.985 million school bond issue by the Marshall County School District. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Voters who reside in the county school district are eligible to vote on the proposed 20-year general obligation bond, said superintendent of education Lela Hale.

All polling precincts will be open for voters who reside in the county school district and who also pay district taxes.

The bond is merely an extension of a general obligation bond taken out in 1999. That bond for $8 million to build a new Byhalia High School was retired in February 2019.

So the millage that taxpayers were paying to retire the old bond will be used to pay off this new issue, if voters approve it.

In short, the effort is not to increase school district ad valorem millage for the county school district budget.

“This bond would be issued as more of a renewal of the previous bond that paid for Byhalia High School construction,” Hale said.

She said the bond will be used to make structural repairs on most all campuses. Architects have estimated it would take about $26 million to complete all the repairs and renovations and to provide additional classrooms in the district.

Bond referendums require an approval of 60 percent in order to pass.