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SALEM -- The Salem City School District will be getting a new school.
Voters approved the proposed new 3.48 mill, 37-year property tax levy in Tuesday's general election. According to complete but unofficial results, the levy passed by a vote of 3,166 (57.63%) for and 2,328 (42.37%) against.
"We're just ecstatic for this community, we're so thankful for the trust of the citizens in this town, we're thankful for every single yes vote we received, and we're going to continue to make Salem proud and we're excited to get busy, and we're so excited for the children of Salem," said Superintendent Sean Kirkland.
The levy will raise Salem's 34% share of the approximately $57 million total cost of the new school building, which will be built on the 67-acre property that used to be Whinnery farm in the city's southeast corner.
The 66% majority of the expense will be funded through an award from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. The remaining 34% figure includes 16.5% funded through a $10 million donation from the Salem Community foundations and 6.2% from community/industry public utilities, leaving approximately 10% remaining funded by taxpayers.
With the approval of the levy taxpayers will see an annual increase of $96.25, per $100,000 in property valuation or $72.19 for those who qualify for the homestead exemption for the first 10 years of the levy, which will decrease to $77, or $57.75 for those that qualify for the homestead exemption for the remaining years.
The district previously attempted unsuccessfully to get the levy approved in the May 2 special election prior to the community foundation's commitment to help pay for the construction of the building. At that time the levy failed with a vote of 907 (44.07%) for and 1,151 (55.93%) against.
The board elected to present the question to the voters again in the general election in its June meeting with Kirkland explaining that himself, Treasurer Mike Douglas and the board felt that the narrow margin of defeat and overall low voter turnout for the special election had "not expressed the whole community's viewpoint" on the issue.
Gratitude proved to be the primary theme of Kirkland's comments Tuesday night, thanking not only the voters for their approval of the levy, but also the members of the Salem School Levy Committee for its work in promoting and educating voters about the levy and the Salem Community Foundation for its gift and ongoing commitment to support Salem schools.
"This was a collaborative effort, and I cannot say thank you enough to everyone who voted yes, and to the levy committee headed by Dr. Austin Frederickson for their incredible work. We're also so incredibly grateful to the Salem Community Foundation for their $10 million gif.. Something like that, it's just unheard of, and absolutely a blessing and we're just so grateful to them. And above all else, it's a great day to be a Quaker," said Kirkland.