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Fayette Schools decides against seeking tax hike

Posted at 10:05 PM, Aug 22, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-23 05:30:31-04

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Fayette County Board of Education moved to keep property taxes unchanged next year.

The decision was made in a special called meeting Thursday.

Board chair Stephanie Aschmann Spires said that after further evaluation of the school's budget, the raise is not necessary.

"We had a very mild winter, and we've made some changes to our school buildings that have allowed for more energy efficiency, so our utility bills were down. We also did not fill some positions in central office last year, and had some open positions. So some of those kind of cumulative together gave us a larger surplus than we anticipated," said Spires.

She told LEX 18's Jacqueline Nie that the board may have to make some cuts, but if those cuts happen, it hasn't been determined where they will come from.

The proposed tax was creating some confusion among tax payers, because of the recently imposed Safety Tax.

"We need to educate people on why there are different taxes and where their different taxes go. So, I think it's more of an education and taking time over the next year to educate before we make any changes," said Spires.

There will be a public meeting held on Sept. 11, before the board casts their vote to make the rate official.