Revenue from the 1 percent sales the Aiken County Public School District is using to help fund new facilities and renovations at five schools continues to exceed projections.
The tax, which will be in effect for 10 years until February 2025, also provides property tax relief. Aiken County voters approved the tax in November 2014.
District officials updated the public Thursday on revenue collection and the status of the five construction projections – Aiken High, North Augusta High, Leavelle McCampbell Middle, Ridge Spring-Monetta K-12 and the Aiken County Career and Technology Center – at a meeting at the district office. The meeting also was broadcast to several high schools across the county.
For the fiscal year beginning in July 2017 and ending in June 2018, projected collections were $17.4 million, but the actual collection by the end of the year was $18.8 million, said Tray Traxler, the chief officer of Finance for the district.
“The actual collection exceeded projections by $1,410,000,” he said.
For the first half of 2018-19, the district has collected $9.8 million of a annual projected revenue of $17.9 million, Traxler said.
“Collections continue to exceed projections, and we believe that trend will continue,” Traxler said.
He added that any additional dollars are earmarked for the five construction projects or for property tax relief.
“They can't be used for any other purposes,” he said.
Traxler said 10 percent of all collections go to property tax relief and 90 percent goes to fund the building projects.
“We're moving forward optimistically,” said Dr. Shawn Foster, the district's chief officer of Operations and Student Services. “We want to make sure we plan and prepare to be able to address the Career Center. We'll continue to monitor collections.”
Earlier, Foster said the district is in the early planning stages for the Career Center, adding that district officials have met with teachers and community stakeholders for input, recommendations and suggestions to maximize learning spaces for students and teachers.
“We want to understand the vision,” he said. “We don't want to build a dinosaur. We want a building that will accommodate our students for the future.”
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