Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Office of Communications
120 E. Smith Avenue, Darlington, SC 29532
The funding experts and lawyers found a way for the Board of Education and the County to present a
joint sales tax referendum to the voters that would fund construction of the new schools and the new
courthouse. The joint bond would have taxpayers paying slightly more than a penny in a new sales tax
when the old sales tax expired, less than a penny increase over the current tax level. Over the course of
the summer, members of the Board of Education approached county council leadership and county
administrators, including Chairman Bobby Hudson, about the idea to create a joint sales tax to fund both
projects.
Only after it was clear the County and County Council were not interested in working with the school
district in pursuing a joint bond effort did the Board of Education decide to place a sales tax referendum
for new schools on the November ballot. Unlike County Council, the Darlington County Board of
Education met all the necessary deadlines and requirements to get the referendum on the ballot so the
voters of Darlington County could decide the issue.
In November, voters will be asked to decide on whether or not they want to have a one-penny sales tax to
fund the construction of three new schools to replace six aging schools:
A new Darlington school will replace Brunson-Dargan Elementary and Cain Elementary
A new Hartsville school will replace Washington Street Elementary and West Hartsville
Elementary
A new Lamar school will replace Spaulding Elementary and Lamar Elementary
If voters approve the referendum in November, the school district will use its fund balance to pay off the
remaining debt from the 2003 penny sales tax referendum. The new one-cent sales tax would begin after
the old penny sales tax expires. In essence, the penny sales tax would continue, and consumers would not
see a tax increase. If the voters do not approve the referendum, the one-cent sales tax will expire in 2018.
The Darlington County School District has the information about the bond referendum on its website at
www.darlington.k12.sc.us. Citizens who have questions about the facts of the referendum are encouraged
to call the Darlington County School District Office of Communications at 843-398-8824.
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