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| Knox County Sales Tax Increase Supporters Prove Skeptics Wrong |
An administrator with the Galesburg School District says he was told by the Galesburg Register-Mail a sales tax increase wouldn't pass, but it did.
"We talked to the [Register-Mail] Editorial Board last week. We were told we had a snowball's chance in Hell. I'm telling you, that's one hell of a snowball we put together."
District-205 Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Guy Cahill reacting to news that a proposed one-percent sales tax increase for school construction projects in Knox County passed, unofficially, with 8,400 votes to almost 7,800. Votes were in favor of the increase in Galesburg, but not in the rest of Knox County.
But Cahill tells WGIL the vote wouldn't have passed at all had it not been the work of the group "Citizens for Knox County Youth" and leaders Bob Fulton and Denise Foote.
"Bob and Denise, all of the sudden, got energized," Cahill said. "They knew they were going to go on respective vacations for about a week, and they realized 'We've only got so many weeks left.' And, all of the sudden, things got ratcheted up. It was amazing how, when they got their game on, things just really took off."
Cahill also gives credit to the superintendents in the Abingdon, ROWVA, and Knoxville School districts for their help, along with their public committees. District-205 will use the money they get from the sales tax for their Master Facilities Plan, while ROWVA would like to build a new elementary school, Knoxville would like to build a new track, and Abingdon would like to pay off debt from other projects. |
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| 11 03 10 by Newsroom |
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