The Atlantic School Board still wants to bring an income surtax vote back before patrons of district. Board Secretary/District Business Manager Mary Beth Fast said the earliest the surtax could be placed before patrons of the district, is a special election on Sept. 13^th. The Board would need to have a ballot request submitted to County Election Commissioner Dale Sunderman by no later than July 29^th. The next dates for Special Elections are in December, February and April, 2017.

You may recall, last September, voters rejected a public measure to add an income tax surcharge component to the district’s Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL). The final tally was 452 No votes to 443 Yes votes, or, 49.5-percent approval. The measure needed a majority vote in order to pass. This past February, the Board revisited the matter.

Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein said during the Board’s Feb. 10^th meeting, that the surtax needs to come before the voters again, because, he said, as it stands right now, the only source of revenue for the PPEL is property taxes. An income surtax would give the Board the ability to have more flexibility with what it can do with the tax levy.

Board member Ali Bruckner suggested Wednesday, that they hold a work session to discuss their plan to move forward. Bruckner said the purpose of the work session would be to schedule community forums to educate the public about why they need the surtax. The bottom-line she said, is “It’s for the kids.”

Board member Dr. Keith Swanson has said the last Surtax asking was “Sold so poorly to the public,” he couldn’t believe it…meaning, it wasn’t explained well at all. Mary Beth Fast agreed the voters need to understand the surtax would reduce the property tax asking. Superintendent Mike Amstein said the surtax “Makes such a huge difference in your property tax.” Fast said at the February meeting, that the maximum surtax the District could impose, if approved, is 10-percent. Even if the District requested a nine-percent surtax, that would generate $300,000 and make for 67-cents difference in property tax relief.