Danville voters resoundingly approved a referendum for a one percent sales tax increase to pay for school renovation projects 60.43 percent to 39.57 percent according to unofficial results. But their neighbors in Pittsylvania County may have barely killed a similar proposal; the sales tax referendum is losing by just 44 votes out of 25,404 — 0.18 percent. Elections officials are still counting mail-in ballots, according to Pittsylvania County Schools (PCS) Superintendent Mark Jones.
He said elections officials think there are more than 44 outstanding ballots, and final results will be certified Friday.
“We’re hopeful at this point,” Jones said.
If it remains close, the school board may decide to ask for a recount.
The Pittsylvania tax would expire in 2051; Jones said it would fund renovations of buildings that at that point would be over 100 years old, including one built in 1942 that hasn’t been renovated. Overall, he said the district needs about $66 million to renovate its facilities and expand a tech center. HVAC upgrades and window replacements will be covered by funds from the CARES Act, and the district expects some savings on energy bills, driven in part by new solar panels. But that still leaves about $47 million of costs that the district needs to cover.
“If it doesn’t come through, those needs will have to be taken care of,” Jones said. “In the next 30 years, some of the buildings will be 100 years old, approaching 100 years old, and most will be 70 to 80 years old. So between now and then there are going to be major renovations that are going to need to be done to those buildings, if not replacement of those buildings.”
He said, “Traditionally school divisions have used the real estate tax to fund these types of projects, so we work with our county through a referendum to determine how we can best fund these projects.”
All of Danville’s precincts voted for the city’s tax. In Pittysylvania, most of the support for the county’s tax came from precincts surrounding Danville.
“We’re a large county, we’re a rural county, and anytime that people hear the word ‘Tax,’ they have some thoughts about it, and so we feel like that’s the case,” Jones said. “We have a community that’s very supportive of our school division, and we have a school division that’s done very well as a division, based on student achievement. So we have a high-achieving school division. I think we have good community support. I feel like if the opportunity comes around a second time, I think it will pass.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Danville, Virginia” by Miguel Gereda. CC BY-SA 4.0.
