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Muhlenberg County Voters to Decide on Utility Tax Proposed by School Board

Muhlenberg County Schools

  Muhlenberg County voters will decide on a ballot question next week that asks if they want to institute a 3 percent countywide utility tax to generate revenue for county schools.

School board finance officer Eric Bletzinger said that Muhlenberg County is one of only 15 districts in Kentucky that doesn’t have a utility tax in place. He said the tax is needed because of a $5 million dent in the district’s budget because of waning in-lieu-of-tax payments from the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The school board approved the tax in January, but then a group of county residents created a petition to block it, resulting in next week's ballot question. The utility tax is projected to generate $1.5 million in revenue for the school system, according to Bletzinger.

“While that’s not the $5 million drop, it’s a start and so, we’re asking that the community consider this investment in our community because we really want to produce college and career ready students and attract more industry to our county and revive the economy of our county," Bletzinger said.

The school board has already approved an 8 percent across-the-board salary cut in response to the budget woes. Bletzinger said if the utility tax is approved, a portion of that might come back to the district’s employees.

John Null is the host and creator of Left of the Dial. From 2013-2016, he also served as a reporter in the WKMS newsroom.
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