WESTSIDE -- A tax increase in the Gravette School District was overwhelmingly defeated in the Sept. 16 school board election, with almost 87 percent of voters saying no to the measure. The millage increase was defeated, 2,367 to 359.
The district sought a 3.6-mill tax increase to build an elementary school and add several classrooms to the high school.
The combined cost of the projects would have been $14.7 million. The owner of a $100,000 home would have paid an additional $72 per year if the issue had passed.
The issue faced significant opposition from a group called Concerned Citizens of Gravette School District. Hope Duke, the group's leader, said the district's recent growth rate doesn't justify the cost of the construction. She also argued the new elementary would open with numerous empty classrooms. The school board was divided on the issue. The motion to refer the millage question to voters passed in February, but only on a 4-3 vote.
The new elementary school would have been built in west Bella Vista and served grades kindergarten through five. Cooper Communities agreed in 2010 to reserve the 17-acre site for the district for 10 years and donate the land if a school was built there. The school would have opened in 2016 with about 240 students.
Gravette's millage rate is 37.2, the lowest rate among the 15 school districts in Benton and Washington counties. Adding 3.6 mills would have boosted the rate to ninth-highest among those 15 districts.
In school board elections, Tracy Moorman (running unopposed) was elected in Gravette.
In Gentry, Coye Cripps (incumbent) defeated Sheryl Braun, 103-81. Gary Dunlap (running unopposed) was also re-elected.
General News on 09/24/2014