WINFIELD, W.Va. — Putnam County Board of Education has approved a new tax bond proposal that will appear on the ballot this November for voters to decide.
“The biggest issue we have is Hurricane Middle School is 70-75 years old, we’ve out grown the footprint there” , said Putnam County School Board President Rob Cunningham.
If approved, the bond will fund renovations at Hurricane Middle School to accommodate its growing population and replace outdated stadium equipment throughout the county “and not only the lighting system but we’re also going to replace some of the press boxes and some of the bleacher infrastructure” Cunningham said.
Cunningham stated that some parts of the bond are already in motion.
“The architecture part is in the drafting stage,” Cunningham said. “We’ve also started the financial aspects. We’ve signed on with a company and they’re working on securing the bond and the bond ratings.”
the next step is asking voters to put their stamp of approval on the bond according to Cunningham.
“We’re asking the voters to approve the funding to build a new Hurricane Middle School, but also to improve a lot of the safety items around our athletic facilities throughout Putnam County,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham also explained that with the ongoing economic development in and around Putnam County it is anticipated that the student population will continue to grow.
If approved, Cunningham said homeowners across Putnam County could actually see a reduction in their taxes.
“The proposed bond that we just approved is approximately 50 million dollars and the exiting bound that we refinanced and was able to save 3.5 million dollars on, which we are now retiring, is approximately a 60 million dollar bond” Cunningham said.
Putnam County citizens will get the chance to vote on the bond on November 5.
Story by Emyah Fortenberry