Voters approve new tax rate for Poolville ISD

WEATHERFORD —  A June tax ratification election provided some future breathing room for the Poolville Independent School District, as district voters approved a newly-adopted tax rate.

Close to 200 community members wented to the polls June 30 to vote on raising Poolville’s maintenance and operations tax rate 13 cents per $100 property value. Though official results won’t be available until July 10, the unofficial tallies after June 30 were 115 votes for and 67 against.

“I’m very proud of our community for supporting our school,” Poolville superintendent Jimmie Dobbs said. “I think it’s a great vote of confidence for each staff member and for the kids.”

In order to maintain its current standards, the district has been in cost-cutting mode for several years, reducing its staff by nine members over the last two years. A $91,000 budget deficit was adopted for the 2011-12 school year, and administrators also had to deal with the $104,000 loss of the federal EduJobs funding, which would have made the projected deficit for the 2012-13 school year even larger.

“It’s most definitely a big weight lifted off of our shoulders,” Dobbs said of the new tax rate. “We’re really excited.”

The new tax rate, now at $1.17 from $1.04, will allow the district an increase of $298,000 to work with for the next school year, helping to offset a majority of the budget cuts.

“It’s not like it’s extra money. We don’t anticipate new and shiny things from it,” Dobbs said. “But this will allow us to maintain our current level of service.”

Using the new rate, a taxpayer with a property valued at $100,000 will pay an extra $10.83 per month, or $130 per year.

“The community’s willingness to support such a measure, within our current economy, speaks volumes about our school,” Dobbs said. “When you vote to support such a measure, you’re making a personal sacrifice monetarily.

“I think the end result is that this is going to be a better place for our kids.”

Poolville ISD board members have already begun working on the school’s budget but will able to finalize a lot of items once voting results become official.

“We feel like in a few weeks, we’ll be able to dive in and really get our hands dirty.”