The Trigg County Board of Education will host a special-called meeting and public hearing Friday to allow public comment on a proposed nickel tax.
The idea of a nickel tax first surfaced on November 10 two days after the November 8 General Election when the Trigg County Board of Education approved the proposed nickel tax after first reading. A public hearing concerning the proposed nickel tax was initially scheduled for Friday, December 2, at noon, but was rescheduled for Friday, December 9, at noon to allow time for the meeting notice to be published in the local newspaper.
During the November 10, 2022 Board of Education meeting Trigg County Schools Superintendent Bill Thorpe told board members the tax is needed to help fund future renovations to the aging high school building.
click to download audioBoard member Clara Beth Hyde made the motion and noted the need for the tax to fund needed high school and other future building renovations.
click to download audioBoard attorney Jack Lackey says the tax will not result in a five cent tax increase.
click to download audioTrigg County school officials are deeply concerned that if a major renovation doesn’t occur at the high school soon, time could run out on options. Major renovations typically come along once in a 20-year budget, and a $10 million grant under the Beshear administration — one that will repair the vocational building — has only further illuminated concerns for its next-door neighbor.
With no nickel, officials believe a high school renovation would have to wait until 2039, a middle school renovation until 2059, and a primary/intermediate refresh in 2079 — essentially backpedaling the district’s most important buildings 60 years.
The public hearing has been set for noon, December 9 at the Trigg County Board of Education board room on Main Street, with a special session and second reading of the nickel tax scheduled to follow.
