EAST PRAIRIE VOTERS OK 10-CENT SCHOOL TAX HIKE

EAST PRAIRIE -- A school improvement bond proposed in East Prairie passed Tuesday night with a 78 percent majority despite a number of factors that could have defeated it.

Not only is this an off-year election, it was also held outside the traditional April and November election months. Despite that, 958 voters went to the polls, with 749 voting in favor of the $1.7 million bond.

East Prairie voters will also have to decide soon whether to vote themselves another tax increase when the county courthouse construction bond is placed on the ballot.

Jack McIntosh, East Prairie school superintendent, said the favorable result is a "big shot in the arm" for the district.

"I would say at this time we have immense support," McIntosh said. "In an off-election like this, to generate almost 1,000 votes and have it right at 80 percent, that's a tremendous yes."

McIntosh said plans are being finalized on the renovation of one school building and the construction of a new building. He said he hopes to seek bids on the project by the end of the month with a completion date of July 1998.

McIntosh said the project should accommodate the district for the foreseeable future. He said the district has handled about 1,200 students consistently since about 1992. The project will be paid off over the next 18 years with a 10-cent increase per $100 assessed valuation of property.

East Prairie Mayor Lonnie Thurmond said volunteers had worked diligently to get the word out about the bond.

"Anybody that you saw, that was what was on their minds and that is what they were talking about," Thurmond said. "Everybody in the community was just buzzing about it."