(Above) Vermilion County Regional Office of Education
It is now official that a countywide schools tax referendum will be on the April 4th Consolidated Election ballot. This will be for a one-percent sales tax. But following state law; items such as groceries, automobiles, medicine; and seed, farm equipment, and farm inputs would not apply.
Vermilion County Regional Schools Superintendent Aaron Hird says the way this works is if enough school districts in Vermilion County, representing a total of over half of the student population that lives inside the county, pass their own resolutions for this and apply with the regional office, then it goes on the ballot. As Hird explains, the regional superintendent is simply a neutral party, acting upon a request of the majority of the county’s districts. Danville District 118 was not one of the ones requesting this, but they would receive their share of the revenue if it is passed.
AUDIO: My office is simply certifying the resolutions that their boards passed. And once they have passed those resolutions, then I have to certify that at least 50 percent of the students in Vermilion County are represented by those resolutions.
If the referendum passes on April 4th, it will take effect four months later. The revenue produced from this referendum would be collected by the regional superintendent’s office, and then distributed to the school districts based upon, emphasizing again, HOW MANY STUDENTS THEY HAVE, WHO HAPPEN TO LIVE IN VERMILION COUNTY.
AUDIO: Believe it or not, some of our school districts actually have students residing outside of Vermilion County. And so those students are taking out of the equation, and then it’s distributed based upon each district’s population of Vermilion County students.
And while there are limits on what can be taxed, there are also limits on what the revenue from it can be spent on. It cannot be used for teacher salaries or textbooks. As Hird explains, it is mostly for capital uses; such as for land acquisition, the building of new facilities including for athletics, security and safety. And also to help pay off debts.
AUDIO: It can be used to lower property taxes and pay off those bonds that are currently out there that property taxes are paying for. It could then be turned around and used for that as well.
A simply majority of “yes” votes on April 4th would put this one percent sales tax for schools into effect.
