Leaders with the Aiken County Public School District (ACPSD) are asking voters to support the next installment of the One Percent Educational Capital Improvements Sales & Use Tax.
The third of five public meetings to explain the tax to county residents is set for Sept. 17, 6:00 p.m. at South Aiken High School on E. Pine Log Road. Although targeting residents of Area One, it is open to any county resident.
Often referred to as the One Cent Sales Tax or Penny Sales Tax, the ballot issue was among the topics (like SRS) covered during the recent “Good Morning, North Augusta” State of Our Community breakfast, sponsored by the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce.
“What’s made a huge difference in our school facilities over the last 10 years, with the original sales tax passed in 2014, we’ve been able to address five school sites, makeup lost ground, improve facilities, make better learning environments for our students,” Tray Traxler, Comptroller for the district, told ABD.
Projects funded by the current special tax included high schools for Aiken and North Augusta.
Traxler said the district is using the series of public meetings to outline the projects that will be funded if the sales tax is renewed for another 10 years.
“Renovations, additions, expansion at Midland Valley, South Aiken, and Silver Bluff high schools, almost new construction of a North Augusta Middle School on its existing site,” he explained. “At the end, we built in some contingencies for some other projects, work at Gloverville Elementary, Greendale roofing projects, security vestibules, and an additional wing at Byrd Elementary, also in Area Three, which is our fastest growing.”
One of the contingencies in the current education tax was funds for a new Aiken County Career and Technology Center. It is currently under construction on the campus of Aiken Technical College.
The special sales tax for education is one of two Aiken County voters will see on the ballot for the Nov. 5 general election. They are also being asked to approve Capital Projects Sales Tax (CPST) 5.
County Council Chairman, Gary Bunker also gave a presentation at the North Augusta breakfast meeting. He told ABD, CPST is nearly the sole source of capital for Aiken County projects, as well as the municipalities in the county.
“If you see an ambulance coming down the road, that’s capital project sales tax. If you see a road being paved or re-surfaced, that’s CPST. If you see a building getting renovated or built, or a park being acquired or improved, that’s capital project sales tax.”
Bunker said road projects and resurfacing will continue under CPST5 and will include improvements to emergency services. He said the county has some ambulances with 400,000 and more miles on them.
We’re going to have ambulances and police cars. We’re going to have a vast upgrade to the emergency services communication system,” he said. “We’re going to have phase two of the Nancy Carson renovation. We’re going to have various renovations at the courthouse, at the museum, and the library in downtown Aiken.”
Bunker said the county expects CPST5 will generate more than $260 million over its seven years. That money will be shared among the county and all municipalities, including the cities of Aiken and North Augusta.
Bunker and Traxler both stress that neither is a new tax. Both will extend the special one-cent sales taxes already in effect. Additionally, between 20% and 30% of the money collected will come from people who visit Aiken County and purchase goods or services.
If anyone cannot attend the Sept. 17 school district meeting, two more will be held in October. One is on Tuesday, October 15, at 6:00 p.m. at North Augusta Middle School in Area Two. The final one is Monday, October 28, 6:00 p.m. at Midland Valley High School in Area Three.
