NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — North Augusta residents expressed positive support Monday for the Aiken County Public School District's bond referendum set for May 1.
Four of the six projects the $90 million referendum would fund if voters approved it would benefit North Augusta area schools: additions and renovations at Belvedere and Hammond Hill elementary schools and a new elementary and middle school for 700 students each on donated land off I-520 between North Augusta and Graniteville.
Money from the referendum also would fund expansion at Midland Valley High in Graniteville to help alleviate overcrowding and an addition at Millbrook Elementary in Aiken to provide better school security.
School Board members Keith Liner and Jeremy Mace, who represent the North Augusta area, provided information about the referendum, including the specific schools' needs, the costs to the school district and the cost to Aiken County taxpayers. About 30 people attended the meeting, sponsored by North Augusta Forward, at the Nancy Carson Library.
Bill Martin of North Augusta said he did not know many details of the referendum and the proposed projects before Monday night's meeting.
After the meeting, he said, "I think the taxpayer is getting very good value for the $90 million that's being proposed to be spent."
"I think one key part of the proposal is that the $90 million bond referendum will only impact the taxpayer about $20 a year on their house taxes for a $100,000 house for primary residents," Martin said. "I think it's a very low amount of money that each tax payer will have to pay in addition to what they're paying now for the $90 million in improvements in new classrooms and renovations we would be getting."
A vote in favor on the $90 million would increase property taxes for Aiken County residents.
As Martin said, the school district has estimated the cost to primary residents who pay the 4% county tax rate would be about $20 a year per $100,000 in property value.
The cost for businesses and people who own rental property and pay the 6% tax rate would be an estimated $30 annually per $100,000 property value.
Freddie Grimm of North Augusta, who also attended the meeting, said his children have graduated and are out of the Aiken County public school system, but he "saw the need as they were coming along" at North Augusta High. He called the referendum "absolutely necessary."
"We've got to do something," Grimm said. "This is limiting our ability to attract industry, to attract residents and to really bring quality of life to this area."
Grimm, who formerly was the chairman of the School Improvement Council at North August High, said the referendum — beyond the 1% sales tax Aiken County voters approved in 2014 — is the only way to address current school needs.
The 1% sales tax, which is in effect for 10 years, helped fund the new Leavelle McCampbell Middle School in Graniteville and new classroom wings and continuing improvements at Aiken and North Augusta high schools. Revenue from the sales tax also will help fund the new Ridge Spring-Monetta elementary and high schools, which should begin this summer, and renovations at the Aiken County Career and Technology Center in Graniteville if money is available.
By law, the 1% sales tax, which also provides property tax relief, can be used only for those five projects.
"You saw the numbers. We're at or beyond capacity in many of these schools," said Grimm, who also is with North Augusta Future. "We've got to provide educational solutions. This school district has been extremely efficient in the projects that I've seen to date. It gives me a lot of confidence going forward that they'll be good project managers and take care of our tax dollars as they're investing them in new facilities."
Grimm said he would tell taxpayers who live in other areas of Aiken County and whose schools would not benefit directly from the bond referendum that the need now is in the North Augusta and Graniteville areas.
"Clearly, right now, the focus and the need is here," Grimm said. "That doesn't mean that it hasn't been. We've got a new Aiken High School, and there have been other renovations toward the Aiken area. That doesn't mean in the future we won't have other needs as well.
"Right now, as the studies have shown, the population is moving toward the Savannah River. The need is here right now. So please help us. In the future, we'll be there to help Aiken and the eastern part of the county as well."
At a series of town hall meetings last fall, school district representatives said, based on studies done by an out-of-state consulting company specializing in demographics and population trends, the county's center of population is shifting three to five miles west of downtown Aiken.
Mary Anne Bigger, with North Augusta Future, said the organization is a nonprofit that works with the City of North Augusta and the community on quality of life initiatives.
"We want North Augusta to be the place where people come and live and is the community of choice," Bigger said. "Strong schools make strong communities, and with the growth we have here, we want to make sure kids have seats in classrooms."
