Possible two cent property tax increase would go straight to school security

Warren County Public School Officials have been discussing the idea of proposing a $0.02 property tax increase.

“It’s not being voted on at all right now, this is just a topic we have been discussing and we don’t receive tax rates from the state as far as our options until early August. So we are in the very infinite stages of talking about this at this point.” says Chris McIntyre, the Chief Financial Officer for Warren County Public Schools.

This money would go directly to increasing safety and security measures at the district’s 23 schools. As a parent safety is a main concern for Chris.

“When I send my son to school I want him to be as safe as possible. When I walk into buildings those first days of school and I watch those parents who are dropping off their kindergarteners. The kindergarteners are crying, the parents are crying. We need more and more reassurance for those parents.” says McIntyre.

The $0.02 property tax increase would add up to $1.5 million dollars in reoccurring revenue for the school district.

This would give the district the financial ability to add up to five additional school resource officers.

“The sense of safety knowing that someone is in school everyday that the kids no matter what grade they are in  can go up and have the relationship made with the school resource officer.” says Curtis Hargett with the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

Along with school resource officers the district would be able to add more counselors for the student’s social and emotional needs.

“The more services we are able to offer to reassure them, I think the better we are as a whole as a community.” adds McIntyre.

An example of this potential $0.02 property tax increase would be if you owned a $200,000 home, you would pay an additional $4.00 for your property taxes.

Now, this is still an idea and no decision has been made yet.