The Cotter Public School Board of Education may soon push for a property tax increase after a special meeting Tuesday where it discussed financing options for several need school expansions.
While a decision isn't final, the school board expects to lose $250,000 to their operating and maintenance budget if taxpayers do not renew the current property tax rate in the coming years.
Dan Lovelady, vice president of First Security Beardsley Public Finance, presented the board with the school systems options.
“In the next couple of years, you need to seriously consider, at a minimum, asking your voters to agree to continue paying this 7.67 mill and extend this out,” Lovelady said. “If that millage goes away, currently, right now, you’re going to lose about $250,000 a year that this is producing over and above what your payments schedule is. That money goes directly to Management & Oversight. By law, any debt service revenue over and above your payment goes to help run the school. “